Hunter of Souls
by AlchemyWriter
Summary: Sequel to Secrets and Shadows. When Death Eaters attempt to steal alchemical texts from Amestris two years after his mission to Hogwarts, Selim Bradley rejoins the magical world to investigate and put a stop to it. With Voldemort determined to seize his abilities for himself, Selim prepares to help Harry face Voldemort one last time. Set during Deathly Hallows.
1. Shadows in the Night

**Wow. Six reviews asking for a sequel in the first half-hour alone. Well, you requested it, and you got it! Welcome to Hunter of Souls, the sequel to Secrets and Shadows!**

**I don't own Harry Potter or Fullmetal Alchemist**

It was a quiet night in Central.

Or rather, it would have been a quiet night in Central if it weren't for the gunshots and shouting voices echoing through the air.

Two figures in black cloaks ran through the streets. Both were carrying large books under one arm. They were pursued by five Amestrian soldiers wielding of the figures reached a street corner, and turned towards the soldiers while drawing a slender stick from his cloak. With a wave of the stick, several vehicles and other objects from their surroundings flew towards the cloaked man, shielding him and his associate from the soldier's weapons.

The soldiers all ran out of ammo at the same time. Quickly, there was a fumbling for pistols or spare clips. However, they didn't have enough time.

The second figure drew a stick of his own. Leveling it at the soldiers, the man spoke two words.

"_Avada Kedavra!"_

A jet of green light burst from the stick, and one of the soldiers dropped dead without a sound. The remaining four stared at their fallen comrade for a moment before rushing for cover. The two figures cast more jets of light towards the soldiers for a moment before fleeing. As the remaining soldiers summon backup, a medic examined the dead soldier. There was not a mark on his body.

-Line Break-

The two figures hurried down an alley before pausing. Both were panting with exertion.

"Is this really the best they can do?"

"The Dark Lord said that they have far more powerful fighters. If that's true, then why haven't we seen them?"

"Even if they do have better fighters, they're all just filthy Muggles. Why the Dark Lord has had us operate in secrecy, I have no idea. We could Apparate and assassinate their leadership right now, and take the country for him!"

"Do not question his plans! The Dark Lord does not accept disobedience."

Both examined the books they'd taken.

"He will be pleased, don't you think?"

The second's voice is cut off by another voice.

"_**I think that those don't belong to you."**_

Both wizards raised their wands towards the sound of the unnatural-sounding voice. One cast a spell.

"_Lumos!"_

The wandlight revealed a teenage boy of around fifteen, wearing dress shorts, a button-up shirt, and a black vest. His black hair blended with his shadowy surroundings almost perfectly, and it was just long enough to partially obscure a circular mark on his forehead. He carried no weapon and he made no sudden moves towards them. As the figures watched, the boy turned his eyes to regard the glowing wand. His expression looked almost...satisfied?

"_**Thank you for the light,"**_ were his only words before _something _large and black burst from the shadows all around them. The figure with the lighted wand cried out as the shadowy _thing _formed a spear and stabbed through his shoulder and pinned him to the wall. The second wizard raised his wand quickly before something slashed through his arm and severed it. More tendrils snaked from the shadows, crawling over the men and restraining them. One tendril crawled up the wall of the alley to a door, before flicking a switch to turn on a small light next to the door.

In the light that now flooded the alley, the two men cringed in pain as their attacker approached, the shadows retracting towards his feet. There was a crackle of alchemical lightning, and both were sealed in full-body stone cocoons with only their heads free. The boy slowly walked forward, picking up the dropped books. He then regarded the men with cold red-violet eyes and spoke in a much more normal-sounding voice.

"If I had to guess, I'd say that these belong to the Central library. What would your master want with these?"

Both men remained silent, staring at him fearfully. Barely a minute passed before several Central soldiers rushed into the alley, pointing their guns at the men. As the men were cuffed, the boy watched them take them away before two more soldiers rushed up to him.

One was a man in his mid-forties, with dark hair and a serious expression. The other was an older man with grey hair and a mustache. At the sight of them, the boy's back straightened.

"Fuhrer Grumman, sir. What are you doing here?"

Grumman nodded at the boy.

"At ease, Major Bradley. I came out because I heard about a break in at First Branch, and men downed from causes unknown. I thought it sounded intriguing, so I came out."

The officer with Grumman spoke up.

"With all due respect, sir, you're not Fuhrer Bradley. You're only human. This could have been extremely dangerous for you."

"Hmm. You may be right, Mustang. I _am _only human. However, some of us aren't-" looking over to Major Bradley, "-and I have complete faith in their ability to keep everyone safe."

Brigadier General Mustang glared at Major Bradley, who looked away with a remorseful look on his face. It had been fifteen years since he'd blinded Mustang, and just as long since he'd regained his sight, but he doubted that he'd ever be forgiven by the man. If not for that, then for his actions against Captain Hawkeye.

Grumman drew their attention back to him.

"Major Bradley, do you have any idea of who these men are?"

Selim Bradley looked down to where a thin stick laid on the ground. It had been completely overlooked by the soldiers in charge of arresting the men and collecting the evidence. A shadowy tendril extended from where his feet met the pavement and curled around the wand, lifting it to where all three could see it.

"I think I know who sent them, sir."

-Line Break-

Selim sat outside the interrogation room containing the now one-handed wizard. The other had Apparated before he could be interrogated. For some reason, the other hadn't joined him. The medics had tended to his severed arm, but the man had been astonished to discover that Muggle medicine couldn't give him a new arm. They weren't going to give him automail, that was for sure.

The sound of the interrogation room's door opening caught his attention. Turning, he saw a lieutenant exit the room shaking his head.

"Did you get anything from him?"

"No. The damn fanatic wouldn't say anything about why he stole those books. He wouldn't stop raving about his 'master' and his superiority."

Selim nodded.

"I've encountered them before. They're a group known as Death Eaters, and they're all like that. Apparently, they must either be eternally loyal to their master, or die."

The lieutenant frowned.

"I don't see how we can get him to talk, if he's that loyal. Is there anything else that you can tell me about them?"

"Two years ago, the Britain relations. It's all in that file." Selim paused for a moment. "Did Grumman give you any orders on what to do if he didn't talk?"

The lieutenant nodded, though his face looked confused.

"Yes, sir. He said to let you, 'do your thing', whatever that means."

Selim flinched. He still wasn't sure why Grumman had given him permission for that. He hadn't even asked for permission. He could see the way it could be used to gain information, but with how distrustful most of the senior officers were of him, it didn't make him comfortable using it.

"Clear the observation room. By the Fuhrer's orders, no one is allowed to watch."

The lieutenant's surprise was visible, but he complied. Selim took a deep breath, and entered the interrogation room.

The Death Eater was still clutching the stump of where his arm had been severed at the elbow. He looked up to see Selim.

"So they want to try and scare me into talking, eh? Go ahead, it won't work."

Selim grasped the back of the chair across from the man.

"What makes you think I won't just kill you?"

The Death Eater gave an ugly chuckle.

"Because you _need _me, don't you? Wenton's gone, escaped. I'm your only source of information. Kill me and it's lost forever."

"Not forever, only until your 'Dark Lord' sends someone else to retrieve those books he wants. And I'm going to find out _why _he wants them, no matter what."

The Death Eater shivered slightly at Selim's tone, but then smirked."

"Good luck with that, Muggle."

Selim fixed him in a cold glare.

"Tell me, why didn't you escape with...Wenton, was it? I'm sure you can Apparate without a wand."

"It's all the same, isn't it? Whether I escape or not, I'm still dead. Whether by you people for killing those men, or by the Dark Lord for failure, I'm already dead. I'd rather not waste my breath begging him for forgiveness. So if you're going to kill me, then get on with it, because I'm not talking."

Selim smiled thinly.

"I wouldn't be too worried about dying. You won't die."

As he spoke, shadows projected from him across the floor, towards the captive Death Eater. They began to wrap around his legs, moving up towards his torso. The man began to squirm nervously.

"I'd really have preferred not to use this method. As effective as it is for getting information, it reflects badly on me for what it does to others. But, I have my orders, I'm sure you understand."

The Death Eater was now panicking, thrashing around in an attempt to break free.

"W-w-wait!"

More shadows reached his mouth and quickly gagged him. By now, his whole body was cocooned in shadows. He couldn't speak, but muffled screams could be heard. As he was fully cocooned, Selim began to assimilate the man's body and soul. It wasn't long before he found the memories he wanted. As the shadows retracted, he looked at the empty handcuffs on the floor of the room. He needed to speak with Fuhrer Grumman. It was time to contact some old friends.

**And there's the first chapter! Love it? Hate it? Leave a review or PM me on what you think of this chapter. I'll try to juggle this story with Shadow Justice, but I might make progress on one more than the other at times. Until the next chapter!**


	2. Meetings and Ambushes

**Okay, chapter two! I'm amazed that so many people decided to follow and favorite this story after the first chapter! I'll be trying to update both stories, but I want to focus on this one for the moment. Also, thank you so much, DemiGardess. They created the cover image for Secrets and Shadows.**

**I don't own anything.**

The next morning, Selim woke up in his bed. He reflected on his meeting with the Fuhrer the previous night.

_Selim entered the office of the Fuhrer. Grumman sat at his desk, filling out some paperwork. He looked up to see the alchemist._

"_Ah, Major! Did you get anything from the prisoner?"_

_Selim nodded. He felt slightly sick. Assimilating people wasn't an ability that he used often. He still didn't consider it cannibalism, but given that everybody else would see it that way, he avoided it whenever he could. Finding his voice, he explained._

"_Yes, sir. Those two men were sent by Voldemort, as I suspected. He didn't tell them much, only enough to fulfil their mission. He must have had someone else find what he wanted earlier, they knew exactly what to take from the library."_

_Grumman leaned back in his chair. His eyes never left Selim's._

"_That would explain why they made their move so long after your return from Britain. They would need to find out what alchemical knowledge was needed, learn where that information was kept, where in the First Branch it could be found, and how to get it. He's likely also busy with events in the Wizarding World, and that must take a great deal of his attention. However, that isn't our concern yet. Do you know what he wanted the information for?"_

_Selim didn't hesitate to voice his suspicions to the Fuhrer._

"_During the events at the Ministry two years ago, I was hit with a Killing Curse in front of Harry and Voldemort. When I got back up, I engaged him with my powers in addition to my alchemy. I believe that he wants to replicate either my healing ability or my powers. Possibly both. The books that were stolen contained information on theories to creating homunculi and Philosopher's Stones."_

_Grumman's face was serious. "Does he mean to create a Philosopher's Stone of his own, or maybe steal yours?"_

"_He didn't inform his lackeys of his intentions, sir. However, in the case of the latter possibility, I would simply regenerate around the Stone, until it ran out, in which case the Stone would disintegrate. The only viable possibility is for him to make one of his own."_

_The Fuhrer nodded. "I see. Well, there can be nothing for it. I will send a letter to the Order of the Phoenix as soon as possible. Major Bradley, I recall that in your reports, you mentioned that you encountered what felt like a weak soul emanating from a locket and Harry Potter on separate occasions. You believe that Voldemort is the source of this?"_

"_Yes, sir. I do. It may also explain how he survived the Killing Curse rebound sixteen years ago, and perhaps even his resurrection."_

"_Very well. Major Bradley, I have a new mission for you. In one week, you are to travel to Britain to investigate Voldemort's plans and to help the Order stop him by any means necessary. Do you understand?"_

"_Yes, sir."_

Selim returned to reality when he heard the sound of a knock on his bedroom door.

"Selim? Dear, are you awake?"

He hopped out of bed quickly at the sound of the voice.

"Yes, Mother! I'll be dressed in a moment!"

Selim used his shadows to pull some clean clothes from his wardrobe, and set them on the bed. Quickly showering, he dressed and hurried downstairs. When he entered the kitchen, he was surprised by an unexpected visitor. A man who looked to be in his thirties sat at the table with Mrs. Bradley. He had short blonde hair and golden eyes, and he wore a vest and slacks like Selim's, with the inclusion of a necktie. He waved at Selim and spoke.

"Good Morning, Selim."

"Teacher! What are you doing here?"

Taking a seat next to his uncle and alchemy instructor, Selim listened to the explanation as he served himself.

"I came up from Resembool to catch up with Brigadier General Mustang and Captain Hawkeye, when I heard about the break-in at First Branch, and your involvement in their capture. I was curious, so I came over to see if I could find out more."

Selim nodded.

"I'll tell you after we eat. Mother's made it a rule not to talk about work during meals."

Alphonse chuckled at that, and the three began to eat breakfast.

-Line Break-

After breakfast, Selim and Alphonse began walking through the mansion's massive front lawn and hedged pathways. Al started the conversation.

"So, what happened last night?"

"Do you remember, two years ago, I went to the country of Britain for a diplomatic assignment?"

"Yes. Does the break-in have anything to do with that?"

"Sort of. While I was in Britain, a Dark wizard named Voldemort was regaining power in Britain. At the end of the year, we ended up fighting, and he-um-discovered that I wasn't human. The thieves from last night were two of his followers. From what they took, it's likely that Voldemort now knows what I am, and wants a Philosopher's Stone to gain similar abilities."

"Is this Voldemort guy as bad as Father?"

"Father outclasses him, but Voldemort's more public. He puts himself in the spotlight enough to frighten people, but mostly lets his followers do his dirty work."

"What's Grumman going to have you do?"

"I'm leaving in a week to assist the Order of the Phoenix in Wizarding Britain. They're a vigilante group that resists Voldemort, but that's not my only reason for going back. Voldemort has done something to his soul that I don't understand, and I am going to investigate it while I am there."

"What's he done?"

"It felt like he'd put parts of his soul into different objects or people. Perhaps that's his version of immortality?"

"Maybe. If you need Brother or I, you can contact us."

"I know, Al. Thanks."

The two alchemists discussed a few other topics, including Al's next trip to Xing, with Selim poking fun at the frequency with which he traveled back to the country. Selim also asked about Ed, Winry, and their family, as he hadn't seen them in some time. Al promised to inform them of Selim's leaving and to expect owl post. They continued to chat casually before Al excused himself for other business in Central. Selim was left watching the shortening shadows of the hedges on the lawn, planning for his trip to Britain.

-Line Break-

Alphonse Elric wasn't the only one of Selim's friends and allies to visit him before he left. The day before his departure for Britain, he was visited by Gracia and Elicia Hughes. The two made Selim slightly nervous, as he was never sure of where he stood with them. They were always polite and kind when they visited him and he visited them with Ed, Al, or Winry. However, he knew that they were aware of the homunculi's involvement on the Promised Day, and while he may not have been the one to kill Maes Hughes, his involvement with them probably hadn't been forgotten by them.

Opening the door, Selim smiled when he saw them.

"Mrs. Hughes. Elicia. It's good to see you. Please, come in"

When the two were inside, they explained that Alphonse had told them of the upcoming mission and that they wanted to visit before he left. Elicia seemed the most interested in the location.

"So, are you going back to the magic school?"

Ed and Al had teased him about liking Elicia, but it was untrue. She was older than him, physically, and Mustang had also made it clear that he would incinerate any boy that she showed interest in. Understandable, really. Maes Hughes was his friend, and _very _protective of his daughter.

"I don't know, Elicia. If my mission takes me there, I'll go, but it seems unlikely. Mostly, I'll be researching their magic in regards to souls and ways of transferring them. That seems like the most likely action that Voldemort took."

Mrs. Hughes was surprised and a little worried.

"So you think that he did to himself what Edward did with Alphonse…"

"I don't think that it was the same thing. Bonding souls to objects seems more common there. You'd be hard-pressed to find a portrait that didn't move or speak. Besides, it seems more like he put pieces of his soul into separate objects. How he did, I don't know…"

The Hughes weren't alchemists, and there was less to talk about with them than with Al. However, their conversation did give Selim a little comfort. Maes Hughes had been one of many casualties in Father's plan. If his family could recover from that, then the rest of Amestris could as well.

-Line Break-

Selim stepped off the platform at King's Cross station. He didn't even spare a glance at the barrier that led to Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters. The Hogwarts school year had begun months earlier, and his presence would only raise suspicion. He didn't want Voldemort to know that he was in the country, yet.

He decided that his best option to begin at would be Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. He'd been there for his last mission in England, and knew how to get in.

The walk had taken twenty minutes with a large group. Selim's quickened pace shortened it to ten. When he reached the street he was looking for, he walked towards the spot between numbers Eleven and Thirteen. He thought, _The Order of the Phoenix can be located at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place_, and the building appeared.

The minute that he saw the building, he knew something was wrong. There was no sign of life in the house. No lights were on, no voices could be heard. Selim stepped closer to the house, examining it. There was _nothing. _Then, he heard the sound of _crack_s behind him.

Turning, he saw no less than a dozen figures in black robes, hoods, and masks standing in the street. Death Eaters. All of them had their wands out and pointing at him. He was sure that the only reason that they hadn't already cast spells was due to the public area.

There, Selim had an advantage.

After the diplomatic mission two years prior, Amestris had extended relations to Muggle Britain and several other countries. Most of the world was now aware of alchemy, if not particularly interested in it. Selim knew that alchemy in the neighborhood would be easier to explain than magic or shadowy tendrils, especially with security cameras watching everything.

Selim used that immediately.

He transmuted the concrete into a wave that took the Death Eaters off their feet. As he bolted past the downed wizards, his shadows restored the damage and he was away. Not for long though, as spells were being cast after him almost as soon as he left the neighborhood. Selim ducked around a corner, and as soon as a Death Eater rounded it, he grabbed the man's hand and twisted it. The wizard dropped his wand, and Selim kneed him in the stomach before punching him in the face, dropping him. Another followed, but Selim ducked the spell and kicked the figure's knee. There was a loud _pop, _and the man screamed in agony, collapsing to the ground, clutching his knee. Selim turned and moved on, intending to put as much ground as possible between himself and Voldemort's followers before more showed up.

That is, until he heard the spell.

"_Stupefy!_"

The spell hit him in the back before he could dodge, and he was thrown off his feet. His head hit the pavement, and things went fuzzy. Before he passed out fully, he heard a voice say, "Take him," before things went black.

**Alright, chapter two is done! Tonight is my last night at the beach, so I thought I'd finish it off with another chapter. Good thing too, the wifi here sucks with so many people connected, and my room is literally next to the router! **

**In all seriousness, I'd like to once again thank DemiGardess for the cover art they made. It really looks good!**

**I decided that the Hellsing Mansion from Hellsing would be a good house for Selim to live in back in Amestris. I just need to decide whether it's inside the city or on the outskirts of it.**

**I've seen several stories where Selim and Elicia are friends or a couple after the Promised Day. They don't bother me, but there is something that nobody seems to have addressed.**

**Elicia is three during the events of Fullmetal Alchemist, or maybe four towards the Promised Day. Meaning that at the end of the series, she's about five or six when we see her while Gracia is speaking to Alphonse. Not that the age gap is too large, mind you, and Selim considers his physical age to be is actual age post-Promised Day, but I just don't see it happening.**

**I figured that the Hughes would have been informed of what happened on the Promised Day to a greater extent than the general population due to Maes Hughes being killed to conceal it, and Mustang, Edward, and Alphonse being involved in the final battle. They certainly seemed to know that Al was bound to the suit by the 'two years later' part of the story.**

**Thanks for reading, leave a review or PM on what you think of the chapter and story, and I'll see you in the next chapter!**


	3. Breakout at Malfoy Manor

**Well, I'm back home. Those of you reading Shadow Justice already know that, though. However, now that I have a decent wifi signal and access to a copy of Deathly Hallows, I'll be writing more often. So, last time, Selim was captured by the Death Eaters after an ambush at Grimmauld Place. Let's continue.**

**I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or Harry Potter.**

Selim woke to a voice speaking to him.

"Well, well, Bradley. Welcome to my humble abode. I'm sure that it's nothing compared to the Fuhrer's mansion, but I wouldn't know."

Selim opened his eyes to see Draco Malfoy staring at him. He held his wand against a side table and looked even paler under the light of the _Lumos _spell hovering in the air near the ceiling. Clearly, the Death Eaters had been informed by Voldemort about his abilities and weaknesses.

"I'm surprised, Draco. I didn't think that you had it in you to actually join him. Or was it to fill in for Daddy?"

Malfoy scowled and shouted, "_Crucio!"_

Selim spasmed from the pain, but didn't scream. As bad as it was, having half your head break off was much worse. Malfoy looked annoyed at his lack of real reaction, and wrenched up his sleeve.

"Don't you dare talk to me like that again, Bradley. I don't care if you can't die, I'll still make you beg for it!"

As Malfoy shouted, he examined his surroundings.

He appeared to be in a drawing room, filled with old Wizarding artifacts and other expensive items. From Malfoy's words, he could assume that he was inside Malfoy Manor, though where that was, he had no clue.

Malfoy smirked at Selim.

"I'd like to just take whatever the Dark Lord wants from you and be done with it, but he wants you to be studied. I assume that he wants to find out what makes you tick, maybe he wants to make more of you."

Selim glared at him.

"He won't figure it out. The knowledge was lost to humanity centuries ago, and any that existed in the Wizarding World died along with Nicholas Flamel. Your 'Dark Lord' won't get anything from me about it."

Malfoy looked annoyed.

"Either way, he doesn't want you damaged until he gets here, but he also doesn't want you escaping. _Petrificus Totalus._"

Selim froze. His limbs wouldn't move. A moment later, he felt himself lift off the floor and hover out the door of the drawing room. As Malfoy and the ball of light followed him, he was taken down the stairs of the house, until they reached the basement. Malfoy opened the door and with a wave of his wand, hurled him inside. The door closed behind him, and Selim was left in pitch darkness. The spell wore off and he got to his feet, feeling for the door.

_No lights in here, _he thought, _how did they figure _this _out?_

"Hello? Who's there?"

The voice caught his attention. It was familiar to him, and it took him a minute to place why.

"Luna? Luna Lovegood? It's me, Selim. Remember, I was at Hogwarts when-"

"Yes, I remember. What are you doing here?"

He explained quickly, and was introduced to Ollivander, a wandmaker, Griphook, a goblin from the wizard bank, and reintroduced to Dean Thomas, who he faintly remembered as a member of the DA from fifth year.

"Selim, can you use your shadows to get us out?"

"No. I can only generate shadows if there's light. I assume that you don't have wands?"

"Yes, ours were taken. What about alchemy? Can you try that?"

Selim hadn't considered that. He was about to try, when they heard a commotion upstairs. It sounded like shouting and a fight breaking out. Then there was more shouting and screaming, before footsteps sounded on the steps outside.

They ducked into the furthest corners of the room as a figure opened the door and tossed two others into the cellar, before closing the door again. The two newcomers were anything but quiet.

"HERMIONE!" one bellowed as they struggled against the ropes that held them. "HERMIONE!"

"Be quiet!" said the other one. "Shut up, Ron, we need to work out a way-"

"HERMIONE! HERMIONE!"

"We need a plan, stop yelling-we need to get these ropes off-"

"Harry?" Luna whispered, "Ron? Is that you?"

Ron stopped shouting. Selim could barely make out Luna's silhouette moving towards them.

"Harry? Ron?"

"_Luna?"_

"Yes, it's me! Oh no, I didn't want you to be caught!"

Harry immediately broached the issue at hand for them. "Luna, can you help us get these ropes off?"

"Oh yes, I expect so...There's an old nail we use if we need to break anything...Just a moment…"

As Luna searched for the nail, Selim heard Hermione scream, and another woman start screaming something as well. Ron started calling Hermione's name again. Luna and Mr. Ollivander finally located the nail and began to work at the ropes. Luna tried to work quickly.

"Ron, please stay still!" she whispered. "I can't see what I'm doing-"

"My pocket!" Ron said. "In my pocket, there's a Deluminator, and it's full of light!"

A moment later, Selim heard a click, and several balls of light appeared. Looking around, Selim finally got a good look at his companions in the room. Harry and Ron had been speaking to the others when they noticed him. Harry spoke first.

"Selim? What are you doing here?"

"Vol-" They shushed him quickly, "has been sending Death Eaters to Amestris in order to gain information on the Philosopher's Stone and the homunculi. I stopped the theft, and Fuhrer Grumman sent me here to investigate and assist the Order as much as possible."

"Well, that won't be easy. The Order's fallen, most of the members are in hiding."

"What? Where's Dumbledore?"

"He's dead. Snape killed him."

Selim didn't speak for a minute. He simply extended a shadow and cut their bindings free. They were quiet and listened to the torture that Hermione was no doubt enduring upstairs, and looking for a way out. Selim tried transmuting the walls and ceiling. No good. He even tried cutting his way out with the shadows. Nothing. It was like stabbing at Greed with his Ultimate Shield up. Eventually, Malfoy came downstairs to retrieve Griphook, and they hid the lights. When they left, a crack came through the air, and when the lights were on, a small creature was standing in the room. Harry seemed to know it.

"DOB-" Harry hit Ron to shut him up.

"Harry Potter," squeaked the house elf, "Dobby has come to rescue you."

Before Harry could get any answers out of Dobby, more screams erupted from upstairs. Ron provided a location for them to go, and Dobby took Luna, Dean, and Ollivander, before disappearing. That got attention from upstairs.

"What was that?" asked Lucius Malfoy. "Did you hear that? What was that noise in the cellar?"

Harry looked at Selim. "Why didn't you go with them?"

"I'm in better fighting shape, and I want to teach Bellatrix a lesson."

A moment later, a voice told them to stand away from the door. Now was their chance. The door opened and a small, rat-faced man entered. He looked surprised at the apparently empty cellar, with the balls of light floating in midair. Then Selim's shadows were on him.

Most of the shadows punctured his arms and legs to keep him from moving, but some went straight for his neck. Selim was careful not to damage anything important as he guided them towards the man's vocal cords.

"What is it, Wormtail?" asked Lucius Malfoy.

"Nothing!" Selim called back in Wormtail's voice. "All fine!"

Wormtail's wand spat sparks. It caught Harry's attention.

"You're going to kill me?" He said, staring at the man. "After I saved your life? You owe me, Wormtail!"

There was history that Selim wasn't interested in. What did interest him, however, was how the moment Ron had grabbed Wormtail's wand, his silvery hand began moving towards its owner's throat. It kept moving, even when the arm moved far enough to rip open from the shadow. Harry grabbed for it, to save Wormtail, but there was no stopping it. Wormtail was strangled by his own hand before their eyes. When he stopped moving, they fled the room, heading for the room above, and Hermione.

When they arrived at the door, Selim could see Griphook, Hermione, and Bellatrix. Hermione looked unconscious, and Griphook was inspecting a large sword. The moment Griphook proclaimed the sword to be a fake, Bellatrix slashed his face with her wand, and pressed a finger to her tattoo, calling her master. As she did so, she told someone named Greyback to dispose of Hermione, and Ron attacked. The others followed, and began trading spells with the Malfoys and Greyback before Bellatrix took Hermione hostage. The wizards dropped their wands as they complied with her wishes, but Selim heard a grinding noise and a chandelier crashed to the ground on top of Bellatrix and Hermione, who were separated to avoid it. Selim felt flying crystal tear his clothes and skin, but the wounds healed quickly. The two witches were screaming at Dobby, who'd dropped the chandelier, but Selim didn't care. Harry disarmed Malfoy quickly, and Selim grabbed the goblin and Hermione in his shadows, moving towards Dobby to escape. As the group disappeared to the cottage Ron had told them about, Selim felt a sharp pain in his hand as he was pulled along with the group. When they landed, Selim turned to view the cause of the pain and froze.

Bellatrix had thrown her knife at them as they disappeared. It had stabbed through his hand, and into Dobby's chest.

"Harry!" he called. "Harry, it's Dobby!"

The rest of the group rushed over as Selim took note of the elf's injuries. He didn't know enough about house elves to heal one, but he had to try. Grimacing, Selim pulled his hand through the knife's hilt and moved to draw a transmutation circle on the elf's chest. He felt his own injury healing up, but as he moved to transmute, he saw Dobby turn his head to face Harry, and spoke his last words.

"Harry...Potter…"

His body shuddered, and Dobby went still. Selim sat back on his heels, there was nothing more he could do. He simply moved to close Dobby's eyes, before turning to the rest of the group.

"I'm sorry. There's nothing more I can do."

**And that is chapter three! I'm sorry that it ended with the death of Dobby, but I had to end it there. In the next chapter, Harry will bring Selim more up to speed on the situation, and plans will be made. Until the next chapter!**


	4. Secrets Revealed

**Happy Independence Day, to all my American readers! I thought that today would be a good day to update my crossover sequel set in a country that we declared our independence from. (I've hit a block in Shadow Justice. I should update that soon) So, let's get to it!**

**I don't own Harry Potter or Fullmetal Alchemist.**

Selim followed Ron and Hermione into the cottage. He'd seen enough grief in his long, long life to recognize when someone needed time with a loved one. As Ron set Hermione down on a sofa, he turned to Selim.

"Can you help her, at all?"

Selim nodded quietly and set about examining her. It appeared that the majority of the torture had been inflicted though the Cruciatus Curse, but there were occasional slashs from a knife or other spellwork. The worst one was carved into her forearm with what was undoubtedly Bellatrix's knife. The slashes spelled out a word.

**MUDBLOOD**

Selim clapped his hands and pressed one to the wound on Hermione's arm. Alchemical lightning crackled over the wound as it closed. He moved on to the other physical wounds, healing them as best as he could. She was awake by the time he was finished.

"How do you feel, Hermione?"

"Better than I did. Who are you?"

"Selim, remember? I was ordered to come back and help in the fight against Vol-"

"SHHH!"

Selim turned to look at Ron.

"Fear of a name only increases fear of the person themself, Ron."

"The name's Taboo, Selim. The Snatchers will find us if we say it. That's how they caught us before."

Selim nodded. He understood taboos well enough. Turning back to Hermione, he continued his explanation.

"Well, His followers tried to steal some important alchemical texts that contain information to creating Philosopher's Stones and homunculi. I stopped them, but Fuhrer Grumman sent me to help stop Him before he decides to set his sights on Amestris. However, what happened here? How did you become fugitives?"

Hermione took a breath.

"Well, remember how you said that you felt a soul inside a locket at Grimmauld Place? That is called a horcrux. You-Know-Who split his soul into seven parts and hid them. We already destroyed his diary and his ring, and we destroyed the locket recently. We're looking for the others."

Selim nodded.

"I understand, but what happened to Dumbledore? Harry said he was dead."

"Last year, Harry and Dumbledore went looking for horcruxes towards the end of last year. They thought that they found one, but it was a fake, and we had to get it from Umbridge at the Ministry, which works for You-Know-Who now. It was the locket. Well, after getting past the traps to the fake horcrux, as well as escaping afterwards, Dumbledore was weak, and Snape was able to kill him easily."

Selim frowned. Dumbledore was old, that was true, but Voldemort was vain enough that it didn't seem likely that he'd allow anybody other than himself to kill Dumbledore. He filed the information away for later, along with the soul fragment inside Harry's scar.

"And the Order?"

"Mad-Eye's dead, George is wounded, and most of the other members are in hiding. Our only hope is to destroy all of You-Know-Who's horcruxes."

"Do you know where the others are?"

"We know at least one is in Hogwarts, and another may be inside a Gringotts bank vault, and Harry suspects You-Know-Who's snake may be one, but that leaves one more."

Selim nodded. He needed time to think. Excusing himself, he left to see if Griphook needed any help.

-Line Break-

Some time later, everyone exited the house for Dobby's funeral. Luna spoke up first.

"I think we ought to say something. I'll go first, shall I?"

She then addressed the grave.

"Thank you so much, Dobby, for rescuing me from that cellar. It's so unfair that you had to die, when you were so good and brave. I'll always remember what you did for us. I hope you're happy now." She looked to the others.

"Yeah...thanks, Dobby."

"Thanks."

The others said their farewells, and then it was Selim's turn.

"Dobby," he began, "I didn't know you well. But you were Harry's friend, and that's what matters. When I saw you in the cellar, I could see that you were scared, but you still were brave enough to help us escape, even when it cost you your life, in the end. I can honestly say that you were as brave as any soldier in the Amestrian military, and for your sacrifice, I salute you."

He stood rigidly at attention, and crisply saluted the grave. Harry nodded in thanks, and stepped forward to say his piece.

"Good-bye, Dobby." It was all he could say. He then asked for a moment alone with the grave, and the others obliged him. Selim, however, stayed long enough to watch him carve a message into the stone

_HERE LIES DOBBY, A FREE ELF._

Harry stared at the carving for a moment, then walked away. Selim was tempted to transmute the words into something neater, but instead chose to return inside.

When he entered the house, he saw the red-headed man who lived there. He was clearly a Weasley. Upon noticing Selim, he turned to greet him.

"Hello, I don't believe we've met. Bill Weasley."

"Selim Bradley. Thank you, for taking us in."

"Not a problem, for now. We're planning to move with the rest of the family, they're all in hiding. We'll move Ollivander and Griphook when they're well enough."

Selim nodded, and noted Bill's scars.

"Do you mind if I ask about-"

"Werewolf attack, last year. I wasn't bitten, but Greyback left his mark."

Selim nodded. He then excused himself to get more information from Harry. He was talking to Ollivander. Harry was holding his broken wand out to the old man, asking if it could be repaired. Ollivander explained that it couldn't due to the degree of damage. Harry then noticed Selim.

"Do you think alchemy could fix it, Selim?"

The hope in his voice was as thin as gauze. Selim didn't want to tear through it.

"I don't know, but I could try."

Taking the pieces of the wand, he set them on the bedside table and clapped to transmute. Lightning crackled for a moment, before he leapt back with a yelp. There were several cuts on his palms. They were healing, but what they represented made him shake his head.

"Rebound. I could probably repair the casing, but I don't know what elements the core is comprised of. Sorry."

Harry sighed, thanked him, and turned back to Ollivander. They began to discuss wands, and Selim ignored it and turned to leave until he heard something that intrigued him.

"And You-Know-Who is interested in it, isn't he?"

Observing the conversation with renewed interest, Selim listened in interest as Ollivander stated, "He wanted to know everything I could tell him about the wand variously known as the Deathstick, the Wand of Destiny, or the Elder Wand."

As he continued, Selim cut in.

"What is the Elder Wand?"

Harry quickly told the story of the Deathly Hallows to Selim, and he frowned.

"Why would he want a Philosopher's Stone, if he wants that wand?"

Harry also looked troubled at that, but turned back to his discussion with Ollivander. Selim left the room to consider his next move.

-Line Break-

The next day, Selim resolved to contact his superiors. He wasn't sure if he could fight this battle with only the trio to help him. He entered the sitting room to an argument between the trio.

"Harry admits he could have imagined the eye! Don't you, Harry?"

"I could have," said Harry without looking at her.

"But you don't think you did, do you?" asked Ron.

"No, I don't."

Ron was about to triumphantly end the argument when Selim cut in.

"I told Harry, and I'll tell you, the dead don't come back to life!"

"I dunno, it could have been his ghost!"

"Dumbledore wouldn't have come back as a ghost," said Harry. "He would have gone on."

Ron questioned what Harry meant, but Selim cut in.

"He means that Dumbledore would have gone to the afterlife. Maybe he would have met Truth. I'd actually have loved to see that."

The others stared at him, when Harry suddenly asked him a question that he was not expecting.

"Selim," Harry said cautiously, "how do you make Philosopher's Stones?"

Selim looked at them through narrowed eyes.

"I believe that I made it clear two years ago that that is classified information, Harry."

"You said that Who-Know-Who tried to steal information about creating them! If we knew what the materials were to make them, we could stop him from getting them!"

"Don't you have your mission to destroy his horcruxes?"

"It wouldn't do much good if he gets a Philosopher's Stone made before we can finish them!"

Selim glared at them angrily. Then, he extended his shadows to seal the doors and cover the windows. As he did, he looked to make sure that they were alone in the room.

"A Philosopher's Stone," he said seriously, "is made from a human life."

The trio looked shocked and confused.

"So, like a horcrux?"

"No, creating a Philosopher's Stone of any significant power takes hundreds, perhaps thousands, of human souls. You need to commit mass murder to make one."

The trio's surprise was gone, but they only looked more shocked.

"So… you said that a Philosopher's Stone is inside.."

"Yes, it's full of souls. It's also why Father created Amestris. He needed to have millions of souls to contain the power of God within him. The humans had built a counter to the circle by that time, so the Amestrian souls returned to their bodies fairly quickly."

Hermione asked her own question.

"Are they… Are they conscious?"

"I didn't think so, but yes. I've been trying to communicate with them, but even when Hohenheim started almost immediately after gaining half the population of Xerxes, it took him years. I have a _fraction _of the souls Hohenheim had, and it will still take me years, as I have other priorities in my life."

"Could you-"

"If you're asking if I could give them back their bodies, no. Father tried that once, and the bodies ended up disintegrating quickly afterwards. Besides, the souls within my Philosopher's Stone have been this way for centuries. I'm sorry that they're like this, but I can't do anything about it."

"But if you released them…"

"I would lose my powers, my regeneration, and quite likely, my life. The Stone is my _heart, _Hermione. You can call me selfish if you like, but I can't kill myself for them. When I do die, they will be released."

Hermione looked upset at that, and stopped talking to him. Selim shook his head and addressed all of them.

"I need you to swear on all that you hold dear that you will take what I have told you to your graves. Never tell another soul ever."

They did give their word, Hermione begrudgingly. Selim retracted his shadows, and Bill's wife Fleur told them that Griphook wanted to speak to them. The trio stood to walk out of the room, when Selim called Hermione's name.

"Hermione."

She turned to him.

"You're a lot like my uncles. They continued to see the souls as humans, too. I started to, as well, after the Promised Day. I just want you to understand that I didn't _choose _to be this way. Don't let your morals dictate everything. Have you ever argued with your friends about what you believed was wrong before?"

She silently nodded, before turning and leaving the room.

**And there's chapter 4! Thanks for reading, and thanks again to DemiGardess for the cover image. Next chapter, we should reach the Gringotts heist. Until the next chapter!**


	5. Potter's Eleven

**I decided to write the next chapter now, while I get past my writer's block for Shadow Justice. I've been considering some directions that this story could go in, brought up by all of you, my beloved readers! I hope you enjoy!**

**I don't own Harry Potter or Fullmetal Alchemist. Anybody who says that I do is a liar.**

Selim was waiting for the trio to return from their meeting with Griphook. As he did, he ran through what he was going to say to his superiors. He almost _never _asked for help, whether from before the Promised Day or after. Assistance from anybody was an insult to his pride. He'd only brought Gluttony along to secure Alphonse and Edward because Father had ordered him to.

However, even though he rarely asked for help after the Promised Day, he had expanded his views and allowed himself to be less perfect, so asking for help wasn't completely uncommon. He raised his head as Hermione reentered the room. She didn't look very happy. As she sat down, she gave him an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, Selim. I shouldn't have-"

"I understand, Hermione. Edward and Alphonse were horrified by the information when they found out."

Hermione sat back in her seat.

"But that doesn't excuse what I said! It was essentially me asking you to _kill _yourself! I don't see how you can forgive me for that!"

"Hermione, in the centuries that I've lived, I've done a lot of terrible things. Some of them were against Ed and Al. If they can forgive me and give me a second chance, I can forgive you. Besides, valuing life isn't a weakness. In his entire career as a State Alchemist, Edward never once killed anybody. I do still kill if needed, but I can't begin to stress how rare it is that I have to. I also think that the souls in my Philosopher's Stone would be glad to know that you still consider them to be human."

Hermione smiled.

"Thanks, Selim."

The eldest homunculus smiled and leaned back on the sofa.

"So, what's the plan?"

Hermione looked troubled as she spoke.

"We're planning to break into a Gringotts vault. Bellatrix Lestrange's. We think she has a horcrux inside it. Griphook can help us get into the vault so we can get it and destroy it."

Selim smirked at her.

"I see. So, we're planning a bank heist, then? What do we need?"

Hermione gave a small smile in response to his words.

"We're going to impersonate Bellatrix with Polyjuice Potion. We have some, preprepared, and a hair of Bellatrix's to use. We even have her wand, as well. Ron will also get a disguise, and Harry will be under the Invisibility Cloak. There's just one problem."

"And that would be?"

"Griphook wants the Sword of Gryffindor. The problem is, the sword is the only way for us to destroy the horcruxes. We can't give him a fake sword, Griphook would know."

Selim tapped his chin in thought.

"I might be able to transmute the soul fragment out of the horcrux and into a physical body, if I had the materials. It wouldn't live long, but it might bypass needing the sword. While we're there anyway, I'll need to contact Amestris. I want some backup when we reach Hogwarts."

"Aren't you helping us?"

"Yes, but if You-Know-Who is interested in a Philosopher's Stone, then I want people at my side who understand what it is capable of. You, Ron, and Harry are incredibly brave, but you don't understand alchemy like I do, and I don't understand magic like everybody here does. In addition, once he's taken the Wizarding World, He could very well turn his sights on Amestris."

Hermione looked more worried by his suspicions, and they turned to see Harry and Ron reenter the room.

"She brought you up to speed, mate?"

Both looked slightly unnerved by his presence, but didn't say anything. Selim was grateful for that.

"Yes, she has. We'll need a few more days before we're ready to go ahead with the heist. Can you afford to wait that long?"

Harry nodded.

"If we rush, then there won't be anyone to destroy the horcruxes. We'll _need _to be careful."

"Good call."

-Line Break-

Several days passed. Selim met with Griphook and they discussed the upcoming heist. He had a feeling that the goblin was only slightly more polite to him as he wasn't a wizard. One day, Lupin arrived at the cottage with good news. It appeared that he and Tonks had a child, and his name was Ted. Selim congratulated the werewolf with the others, and from the sound of how Ted's hair changed color, he was a shape-shifter like Tonks.

Selim let the others who knew Lupin better speak to him, while he considered the heist. He wasn't alone for very long, as Lupin stirred him out of his thoughts by tapping his shoulder.

"Selim?"

Selim looked up to the man. His face was serious.

"Yes, Lupin? Can I help you?"

Lupin took a deep breath, before asking,

"If...if we fail to stop You-Know-Who, and we're...gone, will you take Teddy to Amestris? He should be safe there. I believe in Harry, fully, but just in case..."

"Of course I will. But don't worry, we'll stop You-Know-Who."

It was a bitter moment for such a wonderful occasion, but Selim understood the man's concern. He wouldn't leave Teddy Lupin to the mercy of the Death Eaters.

Lupin remained at the cottage for about half an hour, before leaving to be with his family. Bill also spoke to Harry about something, Selim didn't know what. But as the fire crackled and the wind whistled, he knew that it wouldn't be long before Voldemort decided to retrieve his remaining horcruxes.

They'd need to get them before he did.

-Line Break-

The next day, Selim sneaked out of Shell Cottage early in the morning. The low light and long shadows comforted him, and he reached out to all of them as he walked. He saw a woman that he knew to be Hermione disguised as Bellatrix, and a bearded man that he barely recognized as Ron. Harry was helping Griphook onto his back.

"Selim, there you are. I was worried that you were asleep."

Selim smirked.

"I spent a month in the woods outside Kanama learning survival skills, and I'm on You-Know-Who's wanted list for an unknown reason. I don't sleep heavily."

"Alright, then, let's go."

Harry handed Selim a hooded cloak to disguise himself, hiding his face in shadow, and they Apparated away to the road outside of Diagon Alley. The minute that they arrived, Selim noted a phone booth nearby.

"Wait in the pub, I'll be quick."

He walked over to the booth, pleased to find that it was empty, and fished out some coins for the call. A moment later, he was on the line with Fuhrer Grumman's assistant.

"_This is Major Bradley, the Soulstone Alchemist. I need to speak to Fuhrer Grumman."_

"_I'm sorry, sir, but Fuhrer Grumman is extremely busy today, and cannot speak with you."_

"_Then give him this message! I've escaped capture from Death Eaters, and am working with our allies to bring down their enemy, but he wants a Philosopher's Stone and I need backup to help! Send them to Hogwarts! Got that?"_

"_Yes, sir. I will relay your message to him immediately."_

Selim hung up and hurried to the Leaky Cauldron, where he rejoined the others. They entered the alley and made their way to the bank. On their way, they were joined by a Death Eater named Travers, to which Hermione introduced Ron as Dragomir Despard, a foreign wizard with sympathies to Voldemort, and Selim as Tiernan Adder, a former State Alchemist who had worked with Amestris High Command during the coup and had escaped.

The guards at the bank were easily bypassed with a Confundus Charm, and they entered. It wasn't until they reached the goblin at the desk, that things became difficult. Clearly, they'd been warned that an imposter might attempt to get in, as the goblin asked to see Bellatrix's wand.

Then Harry used the Imperius Curse.

Selim was somewhat concerned that Harry had clearly become more adept at using illegal curses since fifth year, but he didn't argue with the results. The desk goblin called for the, 'clankers', and then took them to an elevator. The goblin, whose name was Bogrod, whistled for a cart as Harry made Travers leave them. The cart arrived, and they were off.

They were in the cart for a few moments, then Selim heard the roar of water, and then saw a waterfall covering the track. Griphook shouted, "No!" but the cart flew through the waterfall, which felt different than normal water to Selim, and tipped over, throwing them out. Looking around, Selim saw that Hermione and Rons' disguises were gone, and they knew it too. Harry had removed the Invisibility Cloak prior to boarding the cart, and still had it. As they got to their feet, Selim heard Griphook's voice.

"The Thief's Downfall! It washes away all enchantment, all magical concealment! They know there are imposters in Gringotts, they have set off defenses against us!"

Bogrod the goblin seemed to have recovered from the Imperius Curse, and Harry quickly restored it. The group hurried along the passage, following Griphook. As they rounded a corner, Selim ran into the others' backs as they stopped. Looking up, he could see why.

A massive dragon was tethered to the ground in front of them, barring access to the vault. Selim now had a pretty good idea of what the clankers were for, but given what he was, he wasn't sure it would work. The group dodged as the dragon belched a fireball at them.

"It is partially blind," panted Griphook, "but even more savage for that. However, we have the means to control it. It has learned what to expect when the Clankers come. Give them to me."

The goblin handed them small metal noisemakers. Selim knew enough about conditioning animals from the homunculi's chimeras that he got the idea. However, the dragon was very different from a chimera. As they rang the Clankers at the dragon, it seemed to sniff the air as it retreated. Its partially milky eyes locked on Selim, and it growled at him. The stone chamber shook as it stomped its feet angrily. Harry glanced over at him.

"It doesn't seem to want to let you pass!"

Selim nodded, sweating from the stressful environment.

"Animals are more perceptive than humans! They can sense the numerous souls inside me! Given enough time around me, they'll calm down, but we don't have enough time!"

Selim noted the scars on the creature's face, and felt a pang of pity for it, before they were able to enter the vault. It was full of treasure. Gold, silver, armor, animal pelts, potions, and more.

"Search, fast!" Harry called to them as they hurried inside. They'd described the cup they were looking for to Selim, but they also thought that there was another horcrux inside the vault. Selim doubted it, but stayed vigilant, even as the vault door closed behind them. Reaching out to feel the Dragon's Pulse, the alkahestry technique Al had taught him, Selim felt the soul emanating from a shelf on the wall. He was about to call out when he heard Hermione's voice.

"Harry, could this be-? Aargh!"

Selim looked over to see a jeweled goblet fall from Hermione's grip and burst into a shower of identical goblets as it hit the floor.

"It burned me!" she cried, sucking her fingers to cool them.

"The have added Gemino and Flagrante Curses!" said Griphook. "Everything you touch will burn and multiply, but the copies are worthless - and if you continue to handle the treasure, you will eventually be crushed to death by the weight of expanding gold!"

Harry shouted to not touch anything, but Ron had already accidentally nudged a fallen goblet duplicate, which duplicated again and burned him. Selim had had enough.

"It's on a shelf! I'll get it!"

Extending a shadow, he reached it towards the shelf, but Harry, attempting to help, had retrieved the sword from Hermione's bag, and had accidentally bumped into a suit of armor. It duplicated, and the space they were in was immediately filled with cursed treasure, which continued to multiply. Selim ignored his burns and wrapped the shadow around the cup, hauling it down to where he could grab it with his hand. As the treasure tide rose, Selim saw the sword fly from Harry's hand, and Griphook grabbed it. Despite the burns healing all over his body, Selim felt a chill.

Griphook had agreed to get them into Gringotts. He never said anything about getting them _out. _

The vault door opened and Griphook dashed through. The moment Selim made his way through the door, the cup in his hand stopped burning and multiplying. Furious that the goblin for betraying them, and not about to let him get away with the sword, Selim rushed the goblin guards. As he did, he remembered his brother Greed's power. Summoning shadows to cover his body, he edged the tips of his fingers with shadow claws and began to swipe at the goblins. As the goblins stabbed with their daggers, they broke against the shadows. _Thank you, Greed, _he thought as he made his way towards Griphook. He was about to grab the goblin when a fireball blew him backwards. Looking back, he saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione on the back of the dragon. He glanced back to see that Griphook was gone, and turned to run for the dragon. He leapt onto its tail and clambered onto its back just before the creature opened its wings and soared through the tunnels. It began to force its way out of the bank, Selim helping with his shadows the best he could. The trio fired spells as well, and then, at last, the dragon burst into the bank lobby, goblins and wizards screaming and running for cover. The dragon burst out of the doors before taking off into the sky, with the four on its back.

-Line Break-

Harry, Ron, and Hermione hopped off the back of the dragon, and Selim followed. They looked over at the homunculus, who had a slightly amused look on his face.

"Heh… and to think… in Amestris… I'd just need to show my pocket watch."

The trio waved off the comment as they tended their wounds. Ron glanced over at Selim, watching his regenerate.

"Not all of us can heal immediately, Selim."

The homunculus seemed to rub it in his face by clapping and pressing his hands to his clothes, instantly drying them.

Ron spoke again.

"Well, on the upside, we got the horcrux. On the downside - "

" - no sword," finished Harry.

"No sword," repeated Ron. "That double-crossing little scab…"

The group discussed their next move, as they looked at the cup.

Then, Harry was elsewhere.

He was in a small, dark room. A semicircle of wizards faced him, and a small figure knelt at his feet.

"What did you say to me?" His voice was high and cold, but fury and fear burned inside him. The goblin was trembling, unable to meet the red eyes high above his.

"Say it again!" murmured Voldemort. _"Say it again!"_

"M-my Lord," stammered the goblin, its eyes wide with terror, "m-my Lord...we t-tried t-to st-stop them… Imposters, my Lord...broke-broke into the-broke into the Lestranges' v-vault…"

"Impostors? What impostors? I thought Gringotts had ways of revealing impostors? Who were they?"

"It was… it was… the P-Potter b-boy and t-two accomplices…"

"_And they took?" _he said, his voice rising, a terrible fear gripping him. "Tell me! _What did they take?" _

"A… a s-small golden c-cup, m-my Lord…"

Voldemort screamed in rage, and with a slash of the wand, the goblin fell dead. He reached into the pocket of his robe, and withdrew a small, blood-red stone. He gazed at it for a moment, before replacing it. He then spoke to his followers.

"It is time."

As he left the room, images blurred around him. The diadem, Hogwarts, the lake, the shack….

-Line Break-

Harry snapped out of his vision, seeing Selim kneeling over him. He, Ron, and Hermione looked at him with worried expressions.

"He knows." he said. "He knows, and he's going to check where the others are, and the last one," he got to his feet, "is at Hogwarts. I knew it. I _knew _it." He turned to Selim, "And he's got a Philosopher's Stone. I saw him, he has plans for it."

Selim's face became stony. "How?"

"I don't know! He had it, and he said, 'It's time', and then I saw Hogwarts."

Hermione protested their leaving, but there was no stopping Harry. He pulled out the Invisibility Cloak and told them to get under it.

"But we don't really fit - "

"It'll be dark, no one's going to notice our feet."

Selim nodded.

"I agree with Harry. We are out of time. You-Know-Who knows what we're up to, and we can't afford to waste time on a plan now. Once we're there, we'll figure something out."

Harry pulled the cloak down over the four of them, and they Disapparated into the coming night.

**Damn, that was a fun chapter to write. I literally came up with the title while writing the last chapter. I was tempted to segue to it with something in the last author's note, but didn't. I'm glad I didn't now. Well, I should go, my sister put on Deathly Hallows Part Two, and I want to watch. Until the next chapter!**


	6. Upheaval in Hogwarts

**Aaannnd, we're back! I've got my copy of Deathly Hallows by my side, OotP playing on the TV, and some ideas in my head for the chapter. Of course, given that this story starts over halfway through the book, it will be shorter (dodges kicks and punches from Ed) than Secrets and Shadows. I've considered writing omakes for the stories after I complete Hunter of Souls, but I'm still not sure.**

**On a slightly related note, who got the reference that I made with the title of the last chapter? Leave a review if you got it.**

**Now, let's begin. I don't own Harry Potter or Fullmetal Alchemist.**

Selim landed on the road with the trio, and immediately started looking around to see if they'd been spotted. The town was dark and quiet. The Three Broomsticks was the only building showing any sort of life, with glowing windows and customers ordering drinks.

Then, the alarm went off.

Selim resisted the urge to assume a fighting stance. He reminded himself that they were invisible and in the dark. Harry restrained Ron's arm as he raised his wand. A dozen Death Eaters had appeared, and while Selim didn't doubt they could take them, it would only rob them of the element of surprise.

"_Accio Cloak!_" roared one of the Death Eaters.

Harry and Selim grabbed the cloak, but it didn't even move. For some reason, the Summoning Charm hadn't worked on it. Selim didn't question it.

"Not under your wrapper, then, Potter?" yelled the Death Eater who had tried the charm. He then spoke to his fellows, "Spread out. He's here."

Six of the Death Eaters ran towards their group. Selim, Harry, Ron, and Hermione quickly backed into the nearest side street. The Death Eaters ran by, wandlights flying along the streets as they searched.

"Let's just leave!" Hermione whispered, "Disapparate now!"

"Great idea," said Ron, but before Harry could reply a Death Eater shouted,

"We know you're here, Potter, and there's no getting away! We'll find you!"

"They were ready for us," whispered Harry. "They set up that spell to tell them we'd come. I reckon they've done something to keep us here, trap us-"

"What about dementors?" called another Death Eater. "Let 'em have free rein, they'd find him quick enough!"

"The Dark Lord wants Potter dead by no hand but his-"

"-an' dementors won't kill him! The Dark Lord wants Potter's life, not his soul. He'll be easier to kill if he's been Kissed first!"

There were noises of agreement. Selim didn't know everything about the wizarding world, but the Death Eater that he'd assimilated knew that Kissing meant that a dementor would suck a victim's soul out through their mouth. He was about to voice his agreement for them to leave Hogsmeade, but before he could, he clasped his hands to his ears in pain. The air had become unnaturally cold.

In his four hundred years of life, Selim had become accustomed to the screams of the souls within his Philosopher's Stone. The noise had even lessened after the Promised Day, as a great deal of the souls had been lost, and he'd begun to speak to the ones remaining. But, as he opened his mouth to speak, the souls began to scream again, and those that were already screaming seemed to _intensify._ He clutched his ears in pain, and felt a throbbing ache in his Philosopher's Stone. It honestly felt like it was going to rip out of his body. He then heard Harry whisper something, and a blinding light in the form of a stag appeared, causing the dementors to scatter.

_The Patronus Charm, _he distantly thought, _to repel the dementors._ He removed his hands from his ears to find that the souls had quieted again. The Death Eaters were beginning to close in on their location, Selim prepared to fight when he heard a door open.

"Potter, in here, quick!"

The group obeyed without hesitation. A tall figure instructed them to go upstairs with the Cloak on. When they did, Selim found them to be in the Hog's Head Inn. Moving to the second floor, Selim observed a run-down sitting room and a massive oil painting of a blonde girl. Like all the other wizard paintings, it moved with a life of its own.

Selim heard their rescuer arguing with the Death Eaters, and casting a Patronus of his own. It must have sufficiently fooled the Death Eaters, as they left. Removing the Cloak, Hermione sat down in a chair and Harry closed the curtains. As Selim looked around, he saw the barman enter the room.

"You bloody fools," he said gruffly, looking from one to the other of them. "What were you thinking, coming here?"

"Thank you," said Harry. "We can't thank you enough. You saved our lives."

The barman grunted. Selim regarded him carefully. He took in his features, his eye color, everything. He saw the resemblance.

"You're Dumbledore's brother. You sent Dobby."

The barman nodded and looked around.

"Thought he'd be with you. Where've you left him?"

"He's dead," said Harry. "Bellatrix Lestrange killed him."

The barman's face was impassive. After a few moments he said, "I'm sorry to hear it. I liked that elf."

He turned away to the fire, not even acknowledging when Harry called him by name. The barman, Aberforth, answered a few questions and brought out some food for them. They didn't speak again until they were done eating.

Aberforth proposed a plan for how the group could leave Hogsmeade, but Harry declined, stating that they needed to get into the castle. Aberforth didn't like that.

"What you've got to do," said Aberforth, leaning forward, "is to get as far from here as you can."

Selim spoke up.

"Your brother left them a mission. It could destroy You-Know-Who if we succeed. He wanted-"

"My brother Albus wanted a lot of things and people had a habit of getting hurt while he was carrying out his grand plans. You get away from this school, Potter, and out of the country if you can. Go back to Amestris with Bradley, here, and help them prepare for You-Know-Who when he comes. Forget my brother and his clever schemes. He's gone where none of this can hurt him, and you don't owe him anything."

Harry tried to explain, but Aberforth continued to argue. It went on until Hermione mentioned the picture of the girl on the mantle.

"Mr. Dumbledore? Is that your sister? Ariana?"

The discussion then turned to how Dumbledore ruined people's lives when he tried to help them. Aberforth told them about how his father had been arrested for taking revenge on three Muggle boys who had attacked Ariana, and how afterwards, Dumbledore had ignored her. He told them that when she was fourteen, her powers had reacted to her anger, and it had killed her mother. Albus had then been made head of the family. One of Albus's friends, Grindelwald, used the Cruciatus Curse on Aberforth during an argument and Ariana had attempted to stop them. Aberforth wasn't sure which one of them had killed her, only that she had died. Selim felt awful. From Aberforth's story, Albus sounded like Pride. He'd cared more about himself and his future than his family. Maybe that was why he'd asked Selim about it in the hospital wing two years prior.

Harry interrupted by telling Aberforth that on the night his brother had died, he'd drunk a potion that drove him mad, and he began pleading someone who wasn't there to, 'hurt him, not them.'

Selim didn't inquire further about it, but the argument about getting inside Hogwarts resumed. Harry got the last word in, and Aberforth was quiet for a moment. Then, he turned to the portrait.

"You know what to do."

Ariana smiled, and walked into the distance of the portrait's backdrop. As Aberforth described the defenses of the castle, Selim watched Ariana return with another figure. It was a teenage boy who looked to have been tortured. His clothes were a mess, he had gashes on his face, and he walked with a limp. When they got close enough, the painting swung forward, and Neville Longbottom leapt down from the hidden tunnel to hug the trio.

-Line Break-

Selim noticed Neville looking at him.

"What are you doing here, Selim?"

The eldest homunculus smiled at the boy.

"My superiors sent me here to aid in the war after Death Eaters broke into the Central Library. I'm here to bring down You-Know-Who, like Harry and the rest of you."

Neville beamed at that. "It's good to have you back, Selim." He then turned back to the trio and Aberforth, advising him that others would be coming. They then entered the passage, and began the walk back to Hogwarts as Neville explained his injuries. Moving forward, Selim clapped and pressed a hand to Neville's face, healing the wounds. Neville nodded in thanks and continued talking. Selim heard him say that the Death Eaters had attempted to take Neville's grandmother, but she'd beaten them and gone on the run.

A few moments later, they entered a room filled with students. The trio were the most welcomed, but some students noticed and greeted Selim. One, Seamus Finnigan, asked why he was there. Selim gave him the abridged version. They then began asking Harry what the plan was, and how they could help. Harry tried to tell them that it wasn't necessary, but it was no use. The DA was ready for a fight. Selim heard the door open, and saw four figures come through. Fred, George, Lee Jordan, and Ginny. Then Cho Chang, then Dean Thomas, then Luna. Harry told them what he could about their mission, and Luna brought up a possible item: the lost diadem of Ravenclaw.

Harry quickly had another vision of Voldemort on the move, and he quietly informed Ron, Hermione, and Selim. Then, he left with Luna to the Ravenclaw common room.

-Line Break-

Selim was waiting with the other DA members, when suddenly, he heard the door open again. Whirling around, he saw several figures coming through. The students began to raise their wands until Ron and Hermione told them to put them down. Selim recognized some of the people as Order members. Then, he saw several figures in blue uniforms.

"What! How did you get here so fast?"

Standing next to Brigadier General Mustang and his team, two blonde men with golden eyes in civilian clothes smiled at Selim. Alphonse Elric reached into his pocket and removed a small object, which he tossed to Selim. Looking down at it, he saw that it was a Golden Galleon.

"You left that on your dresser when you left, Selim. When you called, Grumman told Mustang, who told us. It took us some time to find out how it worked, but when it did, we contacted the DA, who worked to make a Portkey for us. So, what's the plan?"

Selim spoke quickly, pausing occasionally to tell Armstrong to put his shirt back on. When they finished, Mustang spoke in Amestrian to Selim.

"_And what of the horcrux in Potter's scar?"_

"_I'll figure it out, don't worry."_

Switching back to English, Selim saw the Room of Requirement's door open, revealing Harry and Luna.

The room's occupants left with the two, but Selim saw one last person exit the portrait. Red-haired, wearing horn-rimmed glasses, Selim had only seen him as a boggart that Mrs. Weasley had been trying to get rid of.

"Are you Percy Weasley?"

"I uh, yes, I am. And you are?"

"Selim Bradley. Your family is about to leave with the others. If you hurry, you can catch them."

Percy thanked him, and hurried after his family.

Selim watched him go, then began to look through every shadow on Hogwarts grounds. From the shadows of the front gates, he saw a tall figure with red, snake-like eyes, and a snake coiled around his shoulders. Voldemort regarded the shadows with disdain, and Selim turned his gaze to the stars.

_So, it begins, _he thought as he stared. _The final battle._

He then retracted his gaze to inside the castle, and set off after his uncles and colleagues.

**So… I wanted to end the chapter like how Ed looked into the sunrise on the start of the Promised Day. I don't think it was **_**bad,**_** but I feel like I could have improved it if the setting allowed it. I would have written the arrival of the Amestrians like the film showed the Order members arriving, but I prefer using the book. But, the battle begins next chapter, so I'll see you then. Until the next chapter!**


	7. The Battle Begins

**Hello, readers! My apologies for how the last chapter was rushed, but I'll try to make this one less so. I had a different idea for revealing the FMA characters with the Order, but had to rewrite it for the book's circumstances. I also didn't want to write all of the dialogue between the trio and Aberforth. However, now that I am past that, I can write this a little more clearly. Now, on with the story!**

**I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or Harry Potter.**

Selim caught up with Ed and Al as they were about to enter the Great Hall. The two were waiting for what looked to be a large group of the castle's suits of armor to pass them by. Selim spoke up as he approached.

"Moving suits of armor. That takes me back."

Ed and Al glanced over and smiled.

"Us, too. So, why did you call for backup?"

Selim looked around before responding.

"I'll explain when we get inside. Trust me."

The suits of armor left through the door, and the three Amestrians entered the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall was explaining to the student body about how they would evacuate the school. Off to the side of the Hall, by the doors, the Amestrian soldiers and alchemists stood in a circle, waiting for the remaining members of their group to join them. As Selim, Edward, and Alphonse approached, Mustang was the first to speak.

"So, Bradley, why did you call us out here?"

Selim didn't waste any time.

"Voldemort has a Philosopher's Stone. I think he may be attempting to fuse the Stone with his body to become immortal."

Alphonse spoke up.

"You mean, he wants to turn himself into a homunculus?"

"Given what I know about Voldemort in general, he technically is already a homunculus of sorts, even if no alchemy was involved. His body was created in a ritual to restore him to physical form, and he has bound parts of his soul to different objects to keep himself alive. But yes, he basically wants to do to himself what was done to Wrath or Ling Yao."

Armstrong spoke.

"The question is, how did he get the souls to make the Stone? And how did he find the information on how to make one?"

Selim's response was cut off when the Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs collectively cheered at the knowledge that Snape had fled the school. The group glared at the noisemakers, but went unnoticed by them. Selim then restated his answer, while looking at the one house that _didn't _clap.

"I don't know how he did it, but I think I can find out."

The Amestrians turned back to him for an explanation, when suddenly, a high, cold voice echoed around the room.

"I know that you are preparing to fight," said the voice. Students screamed at the sound and clutched each other as the voice of Voldemort continued. "Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood."

Everyone else went silent as Voldemort issued his demand.

"Give me Harry Potter, and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you shall be rewarded. You have until midnight."

Again, there was silence. Everyone turned towards Harry. Selim noticed Hawkeye's hand go to her sidearm and moved to stop her. Then, a Slytherin girl pointed at Harry.

"But he's there! Potter's _there_! Someone grab him!"

Before the Amestrians could move, the rest of the Hogwarts student body stood and faced the Slytherins. They began to draw wands and the soldiers drew their pistols and machine guns as a silent statement of their allegiance. McGonagall issued orders for Filch to remove the Slytherins from the Hall. Other students hurried to evacuate or to fight. Selim and the other Amestrians walked over to a table with the Weasley family and the Order. Mustang spoke to the group for a moment before turning to issue orders to his team. Fuery, Breda, Falman, and Havoc would cover him and Armstrong from the second floor above the courtyard. Hawkeye would find a good sniper position and support them from there. The Elrics would help them when needed, but Selim broke in quickly, stating that he needed the Elrics before the battle began. The Amestrians questioned why.

"I need them to help me get information. It shouldn't take long."

Mustang wasn't pleased, but nodded. Selim straightened to attention, and his uncles followed him from the Hall as Harry rushed off to look for the diadem. Ed spoke first.

"So, what are we really doing?"

Selim glanced back at his older uncle before answering.

"Voldemort got the souls for his Philosopher's Stone from somewhere. I want to know where, and how he knew he needed them. For that, I need to interrogate one of his inner circle Death Eaters."

Al frowned at that.

"How will we do that?"

"There are three students in the school whose parents support Voldemort. At least _one_ of them is an actual Death Eater himself. He uses the other two as enforcers, so I need you to help me make sure that they can't interfere."

The battle was starting when they found the three Slytherins they were looking for. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were walking down a hallway, moving like they didn't want to be caught. They must have heard Selim and the Elrics coming, because they turned, and Crabbe shouted a spell.

"_Stupefy!" _

The three Amestrians dodged the spell with ease, and Al clapped his hands before transmuting the floor. The three Slytherins were thrown off their feet, and Ed and Al tackled Crabbe and Goyle before they could get up. Selim grabbed Malfoy by the lapels of his jacket, and pressed him against the wall.

"How did Voldemort make the Philosopher's Stone!"

Malfoy struggled in Selim's grip, but despite the homunculus being younger and shorter than the Death Eater, his physical strength was much better. As it was, it didn't matter. Selim's shadows curled around Malfoy to restrain him, and one solidified into a thin spike that ended just in front of Draco's face. The blonde wizard gasped.

"I will not ask again, Draco! How did Voldemort create the Philosopher's Stone! Don't be difficult!"

A glance over at Ed and Al showed that they were having no trouble restraining Crabbe and Goyle. If anything, the sight of Selim's shadows had them trying to _shrink _in terror, in an attempt to avoid the homunculus's interrogation. Malfoy stammered in terror.

"H-he, he must have made it from the Muggles and wizards he had killed! I d-don't know h-how, exactly!"

"How did he know what was needed to make a Philosopher's Stone! He couldn't get it out of Amestris, and most wizards wouldn't know how to make one!"

"After Dumbledore's death, the Dark Lord was able to gain access to Nicholas Flamel's notes that were in his office. H-he found the recipe for the Stone there!"

Selim stared into Malfoy's eyes. He was furious. Furious at Malfoy for joining up with Voldemort, furious at himself for not realizing that Flamel's notes would have been a way for Voldemort to gain the knowledge about the stone that he wanted, and furious at Voldemort for everything he'd done. He expressed that anger by throwing Malfoy to the floor, and running down the corridor to find the Order and Mustang's team. Ed and Al released Malfoy's cronies, and dashed after him.

-Line Break-

They ran across Harry, Ron, and Hermione in a corridor. The latter two were carrying the remains of Hufflepuff's cup and several curved, yellow objects.

"What's happened?"

Harry turned to Selim in excitement.

"Ron and Hermione used the basilisk fangs to destroy the cup in the Chamber of Secrets! We have a way to destroy Horcruxes without the sword, now. On top of all that, I figured out where the Hogwarts horcrux is. It's in the Room of Requirement!"

"Great!"

Selim turned to Ed and Al.

"Thanks for the help, guys."

Ed nodded, and before the two brothers turned to leave for the rest of the battle, Al spoke to Selim.

"Be safe, Selim."

Selim smiled and nodded.

"The same for you both."

As the Elrics hurried towards the battle, Selim turned back to the trio.

"So, to the Room of Requirement?"

The four hurried towards the hidden room as Selim filled them in on how Voldemort created the Philosopher's Stone. When they arrived, some time was spent informing Neville's grandmother and Tonks where Neville and Lupin were, and then telling Ginny she would need to leave, which she was more than happy to comply to. They were then delayed by Ron suggesting that they get the house-elves to escape and Hermione kissing him for it, but in the end, Harry was able to open a room where everything was hidden. When it did, Selim stared.

The room was _massive._ It was easily larger than Central headquarters, with piles upon piles of junk and strange objects stacked high. As they began to search, Harry called out, "Look for a stone bust of an old man wearing a wig and a tiara! It's standing on a cupboard and it's definitely somewhere near here…"

Selim extended his shadows throughout the room and felt for the horcrux's soul. Upon sensing it, he rushed for the pile that it was part of. He saw Harry at the pile with the horcrux and hurried up to him. Then, he heard a voice.

"Hold it, Potter, Bradley."

In another isle that Harry must have come from, Selim saw Crabbe and Goyle standing with wands drawn. Behind them, barely visible, Draco stood smirking.

"That's my wand you're holding, Potter."

"Not anymore," panted Harry. "Winners, keepers, Malfoy. Who's lent you theirs?"

"My mother," said Draco.

Harry laughed at that. Selim didn't know why. Of course, in some way, a person using their mother's wand _was _funny, but not in this instance. Of course, Harry could have been laughing to attract Ron and Hermione's attention, but he couldn't hear them. He decided to ask a question of his own.

"So how come you three aren't with Voldemort or in the dungeon?"

"We're gonna be rewarded," said Crabbe. Selim blinked. He'd never heard Crabbe speak before. He knew from hanging out with Draco two years prior, that Crabbe and Draco had been friends since they were young, but even with that, the two never spoke to one another. Crabbe continued explaining.

"We 'ung back, Bradley. We decided not to go. Decided to bring Potter to 'im. He'll probably double it for bringing you too."

"Good plan," said Harry. He was edging backwards towards the diadem as he spoke. "So how did you get in here?"

"I virtually lived in the Room of Hidden Things all last year," said Malfoy. He sounded stressed. "I know how to get in."

"We was hiding in the corridor outside," grunted Goyle. "We can do Diss-loution Charms now! And then," he grinned, "you turned up right in front of us and said you was looking for a die-dum! What's a die-dum?"

Ron called to Harry from the other side of the junk wall. Crabbe cast a spell in response, attempting to bring down the wall. Selim extended shadows into the mountain of junk and steadied it. Malfoy grabbed Crabbe's arm.

"If you wreck the room you might bury this diadem thing!"

"What's that matter?" Crabbe said, pulling himself free. "It's Potter the Dark Lord wants, who cares about a die-dum?"

"Potter came here to get it," said Malfoy. "So that must mean-" Crabbe cut him off, telling him that they wouldn't obey Malfoy any longer. He then noticed Harry lunge for the tiara, and cast a curse. The spell missed Harry, but hit the bust, and the diadem went flying. Ron and Hermione ran to provide backup for Harry and Selim, and then Crabbe started shooting Killing Curses. Selim extended shadows into the junk pile again, as the fight raged around him. Then, he heard Hermione scream. He turned, and immediately wished that he hadn't.

Rushing towards them was a huge wall of fire. Crabbe seemed to have no control over it, as he was running just like Ron. Harry tried to put it out, but the water evaporated. They all ran, Malfoy grabbing Goyle to drag him along. Selim could see that the flames were taking the forms of creatures that consumed the objects in the room. Followed the trio through the room, he saw Harry grab some broomsticks from a pile, and handed one to Ron. Selim was about to get on the broom with Harry, when he felt a burst of flame meet his arm. Turning to assess the damage, he was surprised to see that the burn wasn't healing. Climbing onto the broom with Harry, Selim began to survey the room as it burned. He saw Malfoy carrying Goyle in his arms on top of a pile of desks. Selim reached out with the shadows, but tongues of flame began to burn them. Harry and Hermione managed to grab the two, and they rushed for the door of the room. Selim saw the diadem in the air, and Harry swerved and dived, grabbing the diadem just before it was consumed by the fire. The brooms swooped out of the Room of Requirement, and they laid there, panting.

Crabbe was dead. It was obvious with the inferno inside the room. Ghosts rushed past them into battle. Selim looked back at his burn, and poked it, hissing in pain. _Why isn't it healing?_ He wondered. Turning towards Harry, Selim saw a dark, oily fluid leaking from the diadem on his arm. A moment later, the diadem broke into pieces.

"It must have been Fiendfyre!" Hermione whimpered.

"Sorry?"

"Fiendfyre-cursed fire-it's one of the substances that destroy horcruxes, but I would never, ever have dared use it, it's so dangerous-how did Crabbe know how to-?"

Selim clapped and pressed a hand to his burned arm. It healed, but it took longer than it should have. Then, he heard fighting. Turning, Selim saw Fred and Percy back into the corridor. The two were exchanging banter with each other and the Death Eater. The Death Eater was Stunned, and Fred turned to say something to Percy just before the hallway exploded.

Selim shoved wreckage off of himself, before hearing a cry of grief and anger. He hurried over to Percy, and froze as he saw the body Percy was shaking. The body Ron was kneeling beside. The body that had died smiling.

The body of Fred Weasley.

**And that's it for now! I want to get this story done before I start at college, but we're getting close to the end of the story. Until the next chapter!**


	8. Defense of the Castle

**Last time, on Hunter of Souls, Selim informed his Amestrian allies of Voldemort's Philosopher's Stone, asked Edward and Alphonse Elric to help him get some answers from Draco Malfoy, and helped to destroy the diadem in the Room of Requirement before escaping the inferno inside the Room. After an attack blew up the wall of the corridor, he then saw Fred's body.**

**Is that a good summary of the last chapter? Yes? No? Okay, let's go!**

**I don't own Harry Potter or Fullmetal Alchemist. They belong to their respective owners.**

Selim didn't say anything. He didn't really know what to say. He just turned and watched for threats while Ron and Percy grieved for their fallen brother. Shadows sliced and stabbed at Death Eaters who attempted to cast spells at them, and soon, the enemy wizards were retreating down the corridor. Hermione screamed behind him, and Selim turned to see a massive spider climb through the hole in the wall. Ron and Harry cast spells at the same time, and the combined spells blew the spider out of the castle.

"It brought friends!" Harry called. Selim looked over his shoulder to see the castle walls were _covered_ in spiders crawling towards the windows and openings into the school. Selim's shadows began to swat them in tandem with the wizards' spells. As more spells winged towards them, the group dragged Fred's body out of the line of fire, and Harry and Hermione restrained Ron from running for vengeance against the Death Eaters. Selim noticed Harry seemed a little distant, before he snapped back to reality with a gasp.

"He's in the Shrieking Shack. The snake's with him, it's got some sort of magical protection around it. He's just sent Lucius Malfoy to find Snape."

"Voldemort's sitting in the Shrieking Shack?" said Hermione. "He's not-he's not even _fighting_?"

"He doesn't think he needs to fight. He thinks I'm going to go after him."

"But why?"

"He knows I'm after horcruxes-he's keeping Nagini close beside him-obviously I'm going to have to go to him to get near the thing-"

Selim cut him off.

"It's exactly like what happened to get you to the Ministry. He wants you where he can get you. It would be suicide to go to him."

An argument erupted between the three as to who would go to kill the snake. Then two Death Eaters burst into their hiding spot.

"POTTER!"

Shadows blasted the Death Eaters back into the far wall, and the group ran towards the sound of battle. Students and teachers dueled Death Eaters, portraits shouted encouragement, even Peeves was getting in on the action. Unlike the others, Selim wasn't Cloaked, and he made certain to assist the fighters with his shadows when he could. He saw Hermione fire a spell at Fenrir Greyback, blasting him off of an injured student. Selim watched as Trelawney threw crystal balls and Hagrid ran with the giant spiders. Selim ran for the courtyard and saw a giant and more wizards. One Death Eater drew his wand and Selim grabbed his arm to twist it. The Death Eater screamed in pain, and Selim grabbed his wand before slugging him in the face. The Death Eater crumpled.

Then, the souls in his Stone began to scream again. The noise was even more intense than before. Selim registered that dozens, possibly hundreds, of dementors were approaching him. He heard voices shouting Patronuses, and looked at the wand in his hand. He struggled through the screams of the souls in his Stone, and heard Luna say, "That's right, Harry...come on, think of something happy…"

Selim pushed the screams aside, and focused on his memories. His missions for Father...his siblings on the few times they all got along...Wrath and Mother...the Elrics, and the faith that they had in him. The memories he dredged up weren't happy ones, but they were the most important ones he had. Facing the dementors with the others, he spoke his first spell.

"_Expecto Patronum."_

A faint silver mist emitted from the wand, and flickered worryingly. He could feel the gaze of the others on him, and he focused on the spell. Repeating it, the mist burst into light. A silver peacock floated in midair, flickering intermittently, but solid nonetheless. It joined the other Patronuses and broke the line of dementors. The screams of the Stone faded, and all was quiet again. Selim turned to face the DA members, who were staring at him in shock. Hermione was the first to speak.

"How...how did you _do _that?"

Selim sighed.

"I'll explain if we all survive this. We have more important things to do right now."

She accepted the excuse, and the group of wizards and homunculus split up, with Selim following Luna, Ernie, and Seamus back into battle. Shadows slashed and spells streaked by, and with the sound of a shot, Selim saw a Death Eater collapse to the ground dead. He grabbed a mousey-haired boy that he recognized as the underage Colin Creevey, and transmuted a flurry of stone fists to fell the Death Eater that he'd been dueling, while pulling the student out of the line of fire. Selim noticed another Death Eater go flying and saw Ed dodging spells and demonstrating his martial arts mastery. There was a crackling of alchemical lightning, and several other Death Eaters were blasted backwards by a large stone wall. Selim saw Al rise from his crouched position of transmuting.

Selim nodded at his uncles and clapped his hands, pressing them to the remains of the gate. The metal twisted into a spear that Selim tossed to Ed, before clapping for a second time to create a rapier like Wrath's. With his shadows to observe his surroundings and his training-honed reaction time, the sword made him a formidable opponent.

-Line Break-

They lost track of how long they fought for. At one point, Selim was back-to-back with Mustang, stabbing at Death Eaters while the older alchemist blasted flames at them, but not long after, he was alongside Neville, who was alternating between casting spells and throwing magical plants. Armstrong punched debris into spikes and the rest of the soldiers provided fire to support the wizards. It seemed to last for hours. Then, Selim heard the high, cold voice of Voldemort.

"You have fought valiantly. Lord Voldemort knows how to value bravery. Yet you have sustained heavy losses. If you continue to resist me, you will all die, one by one. I do not wish this to happen. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a loss and a waste."

Selim snorted at Voldemort's hypocrisy. If the man truly felt that way, he'd have lead his forces himself, rather than simply hold back. Father had only held back for as long as he had on the Promised Day because he'd needed to activate the circle.

"Lord Voldemort is merciful. I command my forces to retreat immediately. You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured."

As Selim watched, the Death Eaters began to retreat, running until they could Disapparate beyond the Hogwarts barrier.

"I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the Forbidden Forest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not given yourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself, Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman, and child who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour."

Selim looked to his allies on the battlefield. All of them looked beaten up and exhausted. Selim himself wasn't much better. The Patronus he'd conjured had taken a great deal of his energy, and he'd been fighting nonstop since then. They gathered the bodies of the fallen, and proceeded back towards the castle. Upon entering the Great Hall, Selim could see the fallen. Mrs. Weasley was crying over Fred's body, Firenze the centaur was being tended to. Among the dead in addition to Fred, Selim could see Lupin and Tonks side-by-side. The girl that Greyback had attacked also hadn't survived her injuries.

He saw Harry running from the room and pursued, following him to the headmaster's office. Harry looked back to see the first homunculus hurrying up to him. He spoke the moment Selim reached him.

"Snape's dead."

"What?"

"Voldemort killed him. He said the Elder Wand wouldn't work for him because Snape killed Dumbledore. Then, he had Nagini kill Snape."

"So why are we going to Dumbledore's office?"

"Before he died, Snape gave me these," Harry said, holding up a vial containing a silvery liquid. "His memories. Dumbledore had something called a Pensieve. I can look at the memories in there."

They entered the office, and Selim saw Harry open a cabinet to reveal a stone basin with markings on it. Upending the contents of the vial into the basin, Harry put his face to the liquid and disappeared into it. Selim stepped back in shock as it happened, and was silent. A moment later, Harry reappeared on the floor in front of him.

"What happened?"

Harry's expression worried him. It was...knowing.

"Did you know?"

"What?"

"Did you know I was a horcrux?"

Selim stepped back.

"I sensed the fragment of the soul in your scar when we returned to Grimmauld Place for Christmas. I didn't know what it meant at the time, and I told Dumbledore because I thought he might. Why?"

Harry's expression was slightly betrayed.

"I have to die to kill Voldemort. Dumbledore knew it. He had Snape keep me alive so I could die properly. He had Snape kill him to save Draco, too."

Harry was quiet, lost in his thoughts. They walked towards the door of the office, and descended the stairs. They walked to the entrance of the castle, where Neville was standing guard. Harry revealed himself to Neville, and left some instructions for him to kill the snake, should Harry not make it back. After that, Selim and Neville watched Harry disappear into the darkness of the grounds.

-Line Break-

Selim heard Ron and Hermione walk up to him in the entrance hall. He heard Hermione's voice.

"Are you ready to tell us how you did magic?"

Selim sighed and closed his eyes.

"One of my abilities...is to be able to absorb people and to assimilate their memories and abilities. It's not an ability I enjoy using, but it is useful. Before I came here, I assimilated a captured Death Eater to learn Voldemort's plan. I have that Death Eater's knowledge of magic, and I was able to use it for myself."

Ron and Hermione stared for a moment, before accepting the information.

"So, what did Snape's memories say?"

"According to Harry, everything Snape did was on Dumbledore's orders. Returning to the Death Eaters, the sword, even killing Dumbledore."

"Why did Harry go off on his own? He's not going to-"

"Harry's the last horcrux."

Ron and Hermiones' faces went from shocked, to horrified, to saddened. Selim could see tears on their cheeks as they realized what his words meant.

"I'm sorry."

There was nothing more they could do, but wait for whatever would come next.

**Okay, that's the chapter! To explain, Selim has the memories and knowledge of the Death Eater he absorbed. If you think that he was able to use magic too easily for his first time, I don't blame you. I just wanted to show what Selim's Patronus was. A peacock can be a symbol of pride, and peacock tail feathers resemble the eyes of Selim's shadows. An alternative option for a Patronus would have been a lion, because I also like the Seven Deadly Sins anime.**

**I also got a review today, and it asked how Voldemort could make a Philosopher's Stone and how Selim refers to himself and Pride as separate people. I'll answer the second question first.**

**Selim doesn't see himself as Pride anymore, so when thinking of things he did prior to the Promised Day, it is as Pride. Everything else is Selim. They are still the same person, but he wants to distance himself from who he was before as much as he can.**

**In terms of the Philosopher's Stone, there must be knowledge of alchemy in the Wizarding World. Since it is less common in the Wizarding World than in Amestris, it might not be in code. Flamel's notes gave them the knowledge needed.**

**Well, that's all for now. Until the next chapter!**


	9. A Fair Trade

**Here we go, the beginning of the end of the story! One part of the chapter, I wasn't sure whether to put it in or not, but my sister convinced me to. All the same, here we go!**

**I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or Harry Potter. They belong to their respective owners.**

Selim sat in the Great Hall with the rest of the Amestrians. None of them had died, but all of them were beat up, with ragged clothes and all nursing injuries. It was like the immediate aftermath of the Promised Day. Everyone was recovering from their hours of constant fighting. Some of the DA and the Order had come to ask Selim where Harry was, but he hadn't said. What was happening in the Forbidden Forest was between Harry and Voldemort and nobody else. As the dawn grew closer, the homunculus heard Ron and Hermione approach him again.

"Hey, Selim."

"Yes?"

Selim turned to face the redhead and the brunette.

"We remembered that Harry said Voldemort had a Philosopher's Stone at Gringotts. We wanted to know if you had any ideas of what he intended to use it for."

At the mention of the Philosopher's Stone, the other Amestrians turned to face the two students. Selim glanced back at them before turning back to Ron and Hermione.

"I'm not sure. According to Malfoy, Voldemort used Flamel's notes to create the Stone, which makes sense as alchemy takes years to learn, and he clearly do that. In terms of his plans for it, he's seen what I can do, maybe he wants that as well."

"He can do that?"

"I'm not sure. Even I don't know how Father gave me my powers. Even without extra powers, he could potentially get the standard regenerative abilities that most homunculi had back then, unless…"

Ron and Hermione looked at each other, then back at Selim.

"Unless what?"

"My youngest brother, Wrath, was originally human. He was raised as one of several test subjects to have a Philosopher's Stone merged with them to become Wrath. He was number 12. But he was a prototype, and while the Stone rotted out one of his eyes and replaced it, he still aged and couldn't regenerate. Most of my siblings looked down on him for that. A first time Stone user like Voldemort might be like that, with an altered sense, but no advantage that couldn't be countered."

"Is that likely?"

"Who knows what Flamel's notes have. The same thing was done to recreate Greed in the body of a human, but that human did gain Greed's Ultimate Shield in addition to his regenerative abilities. I'll have some research to do on that after we stop Voldemort."

Ron and Hermione didn't look reassured. Selim's intentions weren't to reassure them, anyway. He watched the two leave, then smoothed out his shredded shirt and laid back, watching the entrances to the school. He wondered what was happening in the forest.

-Line Break-

Harry knew he was dead.

He'd heard the Killing Curse, seen the green light, and felt the rush of cold as it hit him. Yet, he still knew he existed, so he raised his head and observed his surroundings.

He was in a wide-open space, with a domed glass roof and benches. There were thumping and whimpering sounds in the space, though he could not see the source of either. Noticing what looked to be making the noises, he approached it. It was small and naked, its skin rough and raw, stuffed under a seat. It appeared to be struggling to breathe. He approached it cautiously, until he was close enough to touch it.

"You cannot help."

Harry spun to see Albus Dumbledore behind him.

"Harry." spoke the old man, "You wonderful boy. You brave, brave man. Let us walk."

The two left the thing where it was, walking over to another part of the space they were in, where they sat in other seats. Harry stared at Dumbledore, observing every detail of him. Then, he spoke.

"But you're dead."

"Oh yes," said Dumbledore matter-of-factly.

"Then...I'm dead too?"

"_Ah," _another voice broke in suddenly, _maybe you are, and maybe you aren't. That remains with your trade."_

The space they were in suddenly changed, the glass roof and seats disappearing around them. Looking behind them, Harry noticed a large, stone gate carved with symbols behind them. Turning back in front, he saw a figure sitting in front of them with its legs crossed. It appeared to be human-shaped, with no discernable features about it. The figure had no visible eyes, but Harry got the sense that it was looking at him and Dumbledore. It didn't make a sound until Harry spoke himself.

"Who are you?"

The figure chuckled in response. An overly large mouth had appeared on its face.

"_Who am I? One name you may have for me is the world. Another is the universe. Perhaps God, instead. Alchemists know me as Truth. I am All, and I am One. This also means that I am you."_

Harry stepped back from the being.

"What do you mean, I might not be dead? I let Voldemort kill me. I meant to die there."

"And you did wonderfully, Harry. But, I agree with Truth. You may not be dead." said Dumbledore. He looked somewhat uncomfortable being close to Truth, but the calm tone never left his voice.

"_The curse should have killed you, but Tom Riddle's soul would be an equivalent exchange to returning you to life. Your soul has not fully left the mortal world, yet."_

The small, whimpering creature trembled nearby. Harry hadn't noticed it until then.

"So take it, then."

"_I cannot, yet. I have taken the pieces of the souls from the horcruxes that you have destroyed. I can take this," _he said, gesturing to the horcrux creature,_ "to send you back. However, you must sent the rest of Tom Riddle's soul to fully produce an equivalent exchange, or you will be taken back here."_

"I told Neville to kill the snake. Selim may give others the same order. You'll get the rest of his soul." Harry promised. The being didn't seem particularly malicious, but he couldn't trust it, either. "But, with the Killing Curse, nobody died for me this time-how can I be alive?"

"I think you know," said Dumbledore. "Think back. Remember what he did, in his ignorance, in his greed and his cruelty."

Harry thought, surveying the figures in the area. Soon enough, he found the answer.

"He took my blood."

"Precisely!" said Dumbledore. "He took your blood and rebuilt his living body with it! Your blood in his veins, Harry, Lily's protection inside both of you! He tethered you to life while he lives!"

"I live...while he lives? But I thought...I thought it was the other way round! I thought we both had to die? Or is it the same thing?"

"_You live, but a trade must be made for you to return. Therefore, the soul of Tom Riddle is equivalent, as he should have died long ago."_

"You were the seventh horcrux, Harry, the horcrux he never meant to make. He had rendered his soul so unstable that it broke apart when he committed those acts of unspeakable evil, the murder of your parents, the attempted killing of a child. But what escaped from that room was even less than he knew. He left more than his body behind. He left part of himself latched to you, the would-be victim who had survived. And his knowledge remained woefully incomplete, Harry! That which Voldemort does not value, he takes no trouble to comprehend. Of house-elves and children's tales, of love, loyalty, and innocence, Voldemort knows and understands nothing. _Nothing. _That they all have a power beyond his own, a power beyond the reach of any magic, is a truth he has never grasped.

"_He is not unlike another I know of, though he covets power, not knowledge like the one that I knew before."_

"He took your blood believing it would strengthen him. He took into his body a tiny part of the enchantment your mother laid upon you when she died for you. His body keeps her sacrifice alive, and while that enchantment survives, so do you and so does Voldemort's one last hope for himself."

The conversation continued for a few more moments, then Harry said, "I've got to go back, haven't I?"

The other two agreed.

"_Remember your trade, Mr. Wizard. I will be waiting."_

Truth's words made Harry nod, and as the being stood, he saw the piece of Voldemort's soul disintegrate into nothing. On Truth, he saw something on the entity's forehead spread out into the shape of a lightning bolt and appear as Tom Riddle covering the being's form. It was the last thing he saw before he woke on the forest floor.

-Line Break-

Selim stood in the front of the group as they watched Voldemort and the Death Eaters enter the courtyard of the school. The Dark Lord spoke.

"Harry Potter is dead."

Selim could see the body in Hagrid's arms. The half-giant must have been captured by the Death Eaters during the battle. However, he could tell Harry wasn't dead. Selim was very good at spotting dead.

"He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone."

Selim clenched his fists and moved towards the group subtly.

"The battle is won. You have lost half of your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you, and the Boy Who Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman, or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family. Come out of the castle now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together."

Selim could see now that others could now see Harry's body. There were screams of denial, until Voldemort cast a spell to silence them.

"You see?" said Voldemort. "Harry Potter is dead! Do you understand now, deluded ones? He was nothing, ever, but a boy who relied on others to sacrifice themselves for him!"

"_**LIAR!" **_roared Selim. Voldemort and his Death Eaters stepped back as shadowy blades appeared around them. _**"You're the coward. You stayed out of the battle, letting your underlings fight for you instead of finishing Harry on the battlefield. He fought alongside us, he didn't make us sacrifice ourselves for him. You think anybody who knew Harry Potter would believe that he would flee? We're his friends, all you have are simple pawns. I know the distinction between them too well. And even if he's dead, we'll still fight for him!"**_

The spell Voldemort cast at him didn't kill him, but Selim was blasted away into the wall of the castle, leaving an imprint. Stones fell around him as he hit the ground, and red lightning crackled around him as his injuries healed. Looking up, he saw someone else had taken his place to bolster the crowd.

Neville Longbottom faced Voldemort, refusing his offer to join the Death Eaters, declaring his loyalty to Dumbledore's Army. As Selim stood, regenerating, he saw Voldemort summon the Sorting Hat from the castle and force it onto Neville's head.

"There will be no more Sorting at Hogwarts School. There will be no more Houses. The emblem, shield, and colors of my noble ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, will suffice for everyone. Won't they, Neville Longbottom?"

Then, Voldemort pointed his wand at Neville and set the Sorting Hat on _fire._

Screams erupted, but Neville didn't move. He stood stock-still as he burned. Then, a large figure began to fight the giants with Voldemort. Several centaurs also engaged with bows and arrows. Selim saw Harry put the Invisibility Cloak over himself and vanish, and Neville pulled the burning Hat from his head, at the same time pulling something out of it.

It was the sword of Gryffindor.

In one motion, Neville Longbottom severed the head of Nagini and the snake's body fell. Voldemort screamed in rage, and the battle recommenced.

Selim saw Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, Colin Creevey, and Hannah Abbot, among the other students, casting spells with renewed ferocity. The occupants of Hogsmeade village also appeared to have joined the battle. Mustang and his group were shooting, burning, punching, and transmuting in a circle to clear space for a better offense. The fight entered the castle, and Selim charged towards Voldemort. He saw Mrs. Weasley kill Bellatrix Lestrange, and Harry reappeared to protect her from Voldemort's retribution. Selim stepped up next to him. From the moment he'd seen Voldemort there, he'd sensed the Stone. There was little doubt what had been done with it. He glanced at the Boy Who Lived...Twice.

"I know you need to take him, it's got to be you, but he's merged with the Stone. We'll need to drain it of energy first."

Harry nodded, and shouted for nobody else to help them. That startled Voldemort.

"Potter doesn't mean that. That isn't how he works, is it? Who are you going to use as a shield today, Potter?"

"Nobody. There are no more horcruxes. It's just you and me. Selim just needs to deal with that Stone of yours. Neither can live while the other survives, and one of us is about to leave for good…"

As they spoke, Selim and Harry attacked the Dark Lord. Spells were deflected, but the shadows stabbed and tore at Voldemort's body as he treated Harry as the greater threat. Spells hit Selim, but he ignored or regenerated from them. Red lightning crackled around Selim and Voldemort as their Philosopher's Stones kept them alive. One healed significantly faster than the other.

As the fight progressed, Voldemort screamed at Harry, "You think _you _know more magic than I do? That _I,_ that Lord Voldemort, who has performed magic that Dumbledore himself never dreamed of?"

"Oh, he dreamed of it, but he knew more than you, knew enough not to do what you've done."

"You mean he was weak! Too weak to dare, too weak to take what might have been his, what will be mine!"

"No, he was cleverer than you. A better wizard, a better man."

Selim dodged and slashed as the fight continued. Voldemort's Stone could only contain a couple hundred souls at most, and Selim's Stone contained far more than that. This would end soon.

"You dare-"

"Yes, I dare! Because Voldemort's last plan hasn't backfired on me at all. It's backfired on you, Riddle."

Harry was beginning to explain why the wand didn't work for Voldemort.

"That wand still isn't working properly for you because you murdered the wrong person. Severus Snape was never the true master of the Elder Wand. He never defeated Dumbledore."

"He killed-"

"Aren't you listening? _Snape never beat Dumbledore! _Dumbledore's death was planned between them! Dumbledore intended to die undefeated, the wand's last true master! If all had gone as planned, the wand's power would have died with him, because it had never been won from him!"

"But then, Potter, Dumbledore as good as gave me the wand! I stole the wand from its last master's tomb! I removed it against its last master's wishes! Its power is mine!"

Harry told Voldemort that holding the wand didn't make one its master. It had been given a new master before Dumbledore died. Voldemort was clearly showing fear, as he cast spells at Harry, who only defended, while Selim whittled him down further. Then, Harry revealed the one who had gained the wand from Dumbledore.

"The true master of the wand was Draco Malfoy."

"But what does it matter? Even if you are right, Potter, it makes no difference to you and me. You no longer have the phoenix wand: we duel on equal skill alone...and after I have killed you and you homunculus ally, I can attend to Draco Malfoy…"

"You'll die long before you can kill me, Voldemort," Selim said, "Your Stone is pitifully weak."

"But you're too late to get the wand from Draco. You've missed your chance. I got there first. I overpowered Draco weeks ago. I took this wand from him."

Everyone was silent. Even Voldemort stopped casting spells, as the realization of what Harry was saying sank in. Selim felt for Voldemort's Stone, noting how small it was. _It's time._

He nodded at Harry, and braced himself.

"So it all comes down to this, doesn't it?" whispered Harry. "Does the wand in your hand know that its last master was Disarmed? Because if it does...I am the true master of the Elder Wand."

As the sun rose over the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Voldemort and Harry cast their spells at the same time, as Selim's shadows moved forward with blinding speed.

"_Avada Kedavra!"_

"_Expelliarmus!"_

The spells collided and as Voldemort's wand went flying, the shadows tore into Voldemort's chest, pulling something out. As Harry Potter caught the Elder Wand in his free hand, the small red stone fell into Selim's hand. It lay there, for a moment, before disintegrating into nothing. The body of Tom Marvolo Riddle fell backwards, eyes empty and unknowing.

He was dead.

There was silence for a moment. Then there were cheers. Students and staff, Order members and Amestrians, everyone rushed forward to congratulate the two for truly defeating the Dark Lord Voldemort. It was almost an hour before they could get away from the crowd.

Selim followed the Golden Trio to the headmaster's office, as Harry recounted what had happened in the Pensieve. The portraits of former headmasters and mistresses applauded them, until they moved to address Dumbledore's portrait. Harry reported that for a brief time, he'd been in possession of the Resurrection Stone, but had dropped it in the forest, and had no intention of retrieving it. He opted to keep the Invisibility Cloak, as it was his. However, the only spell Harry cast with the Elder Wand was to repair his own wand, before declaring that he would put it back in Dumbledore's tomb. Selim smiled.

"Good call, Harry. It's too powerful for anyone."

Harry agreed, and the trio and Selim left the office, to help with the injured, to prepare the bodies, or to get some much-needed sleep.

No one would deny that they'd earned it.

**And there it is, the final battle! I wasn't sure whether to put the bit with Truth in, but my sister convinced me. I'm not really happy with how it turned out, but it's there. I'm not planning to put things in for a 'nineteen years later' bit, but there are still one or two chapters left. Until the next chapter!**


	10. All Tied Up

**So, the post-battle chapter! I don't plan on skipping ahead 19 years for an epilogue, but maybe a few omakes for the stories. Anyway, here's the chapter!**

**I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or Harry Potter.**

The man known as Lord Voldemort was confused.

He'd been duelling Harry Potter and the homunculus Selim Bradley in the Great Hall of Hogwarts, where the two had fought to defeat him. He hadn't expected Potter to face him himself, with only Bradley there for the Stone he'd implanted within himself. With his horcruxes gone, the Stone had been the single thing that kept him immortal. It should have been impossible for them to kill him, with the Stone implanted directly inside his body. Even if what Potter had said was true, the Stone should have kept him alive from anything Potter could have done to him, even with the Elder Wand. It was impossible.

And then Bradley had ripped it out of his chest.

The Dark Lord turned to observe his surroundings. The space he was in was white, with no discernable features about it, until he looked behind himself. A set of large stone double doors was directly behind him. They were carved with symbols, some of which he recognized from Flamel's notes. He reached out to touch the doors.

"_Well, if it isn't the wizard who thought himself an alchemist."_

Voldemort whirled around to face the speaker. It was a white outline of a person, with no features outside of an overly large mouth. Its presence made Voldemort uncomfortable.

"_I must confess that I expected the most feared wizard in the world to be more…intimidating."_

The Dark Lord reached for his wand, preparing to attack the thing...but he had no wand. It had allied with Harry Potter.

"How dare you! Do you even know who I _am_? I am Lord Voldemort! He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named! The Dark Lord! Who are you to speak against me?"

The _thing _in front of him looked extremely displeased.

"_I am what you call the world. Another name would be the universe. Maybe God would make sense to you. Or perhaps in Flamel's notes, you found mention of Truth. I am All, and I am One. And therefore, I am you."_

"I don't care what you are called! I don't care what you are! I command you to release me from this place! Return me now!"

"_Throughout your life, you have lied, manipulated, intimidated, commanded, and controlled to get what you so desperately crave. You ignored the most powerful of magic for power to rule. You were killed by the one who defeated you before. You cannot return."_

Voldemort heard a creak and saw the stone doors behind him were opening.

"_Now, it's time for your punishment."_

The Dark Lord's red eyes were wide with fear.

"No…"

As Voldemort tried to run, he felt something grab him, dragging him back towards the gate. He began to scream.

As Tom Marvolo Riddle was dragged into the Gate, he realized that Dumbledore was right.

There were some things _far _worse than death.

-Line Break-

Selim woke from his much-deserved sleep to the sound of the students and staff conversing about what they'd done during the battle, and how Harry Potter would never have been able to defeat Voldemort without them. As he looked, he saw Ed writing on a piece of parchment, before giving it to an owl. He walked over to his uncle.

"What are you doing?"

"Letting Winry and the kids know we're alright. Al sent one to your mother, and Mustang is writing to Fuhrer Grumman to inform him that Voldemort is dead."

Selim nodded.

"Thank you, all of you, for helping us."

"Of course."

The two conversed for a short while longer, before Selim noticed the Malfoy family hiding away from the others in the school. Excusing himself from the conversation with Ed, he approached them. They looked nervous as he did.

"You needed to decide between what was more important. Your beliefs, or your family."

Another voice spoke behind him.

"Mrs. Malfoy lied to Voldemort to save me, because she needed to know if Draco was alive."

Turning to acknowledge Harry, Selim continued speaking to the Malfoys.

"My father sacrificed my siblings for his plan. They were nothing to him, and I saw them as nothing to me because of that. I thought I was _special._

And when he was willing to abandon me just as easily, I should have realized that he didn't care. You need to put your family before your bigotry, and protect them for _them, _not for your name. I hope you understand this."

And with that, Selim turned and walked away with Harry. The Malfoys simply watched them go. Harry turned to him as they walked.

"Can I ask you something?"

Ron and Hermione joined them as he said that.

"Sure. What is it?"

"When I was hit by the Killing Curse, in the forest, I was at first in this place that looked like a train station. I saw Dumbledore there."

Selim was intrigued. He'd never heard of such a thing.

"But then it changed. The station parts disappeared, so it was just me, Dumbledore, the piece of Voldemort's soul, and this big stone doorway'"

"Truth."

"You know him?"

"Better than most. He's the closest thing to God that alchemists believe in. You access his domain by attempting human transmutation. However, he takes something from those who do that." He raised a hand to his jaw, subconsciously.

Hermione, being perceptive, raised the question.

"What did it take from you?"

Selim didn't answer the question. He instead turned back to Harry.

"What did Truth say?"

"He said that if I sent the rest of Voldemort's soul to him, he'd let me stay back here. Dumbledore told me that love was something that Voldemort didn't understand, that's why my mother's protection wasn't as effective for him, but it made it impossible for him to kill me, especially with the Elder Wand."

The others nodded, and they all returned to the Hall to assist the others.

-Line Break-

The Amestrians spent a few more weeks in the Wizarding World. The war with Voldemort had shown them several loose ends that needed to be tied up. For the first few days, it was almost impossible for anyone to get an owl, due to the number of reports and reassurance letters being sent from the castle. When Selim finally DID get an owl, he wasted no time writing a quick letter to his mother to let her know he was well, as well as a letter to the Hughes family, informing them of all the goings-on at Hogwarts until then. Mustang had informed Fuhrer Grumman that the threat of Voldemort was neutralized, and the rest of his forces were either being captured or released from the spells controlling them. Edward and Alphonse also sent letters to their loved ones, informing them that they were safe, and that they would return home sometime in the near future.

The underaged students that had stayed to fight had been sent home, and Muggleborns who had gone into hiding were informed that it was safe to return. Before some of the students left, they had voiced their desires to visit Amestris and learn alchemy, after witnessing Mustang, Armstrong, Alphonse, and Selim in action on the battlefield. The Flame Alchemist had promised them that he'd push for restarting the exchange program again when he returned to Central.

The alchemists and the of-age witches and wizards worked to repair Hogwarts Castle. McGonagall had informed them that the majority of repairs would be performed later, and the current priority was to make the school as safe as possible for the time being. Selim had been restoring the wall in the hallway outside the Room of Requirement when she found him.

"Mr. Bradley?"

Selim turned to look at Professor McGonagall.

"Yes, Professor?"

"Miss Granger tells me that you were able to cast a Patronus at the dementors during the battle."

"That is true, Professor."

"So you have gained the ability to use magic?"

"Yes, ma'am. Why?"

McGonagall pulled a folded piece of parchment from her pocket and handed it to Selim.

"I would like to extend an invitation for you to attend Hogwarts next year. Not as an ambassador, but as a student."

Selim looked at the parchment in his hand, regarding it carefully.

"That's a very kind offer, Professor McGonagall. I will certainly consider it. However, my job keeps me quite busy, and I can't promise anything."

She looked somewhat disappointed, but understanding, before nodding and walking off. Selim looked back at the parchment he held. He had no intention of attending the school as a true student, he already knew everything that the Death Eater he'd assimilated knew, but he wasn't rude. He'd send a letter to her explaining why he'd decided not to accept once he was back in Amestris. Stowing the parchment in his pocket, he returned to work.

-Line Break-

The day before Selim, Ed, Al, and Mustang's team were due to return to Amestris, Kingsley Shacklebolt caught them. He had been in charge of straightening out the Ministry of Magic, and Selim was pleased to hear that Dolores Umbridge had finally been investigated and arrested. When Shacklebolt reached Selim, he had something under his arm.

"Excuse me, Major Bradley?"

Selim and the other Amestrians noted the Auror approaching and turned to face him.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

"The Malfoy family turned these over to us yesterday. I spoke to Dumbledore's portrait, as these were legally his until his death, and he agreed that they should be turned over to you, to be kept safe."

He then handed over a large file of parchment sheets. The State Alchemists flipped through them, to discover that they were the notes of Nicholas Flamel. All of it. The notes they paid the most attention to were the instructions for how to create a Philosopher's Stone, and theories on how to implant one within a living creature. Selim turned to Kingsley.

"Thank you."

"As these weren't specified in Dumbledore's will, I'll take care of the legal proceedings to turn them over to you, but I think that they will be safer in your hands."

Mustang nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Shacklebolt."

The alchemists in the group turned to face each other. Selim was the first to speak.

"So, what should we do with them?"

Ed went next. "We should destroy them. They're too dangerous to keep."

"I agree with you in terms of the information on Philosopher's Stones, but the rest of it will need to be checked first."

Mustang nodded. "We should let the Fuhrer know about this as well. A final decision shouldn't be made until he's seen this as well."

The group argued in circles for a few moments, before agreeing with Mustang's plan. The file was hidden away for later.

-Line Break-

_One Year Later_

Selim Bradley stood on the platform at the train station. He'd been assigned to greet the wizards and witches who were arriving to learn alchemy, given his prior history with them. He smiled, thinking about the events following the battle of Hogwarts. Upon returning to Amestris, the Flamel's notes were given to the Fuhrer. He'd ordered any and all information related to the Philosopher's Stone to be sealed away. The rest was stored in the Central library. Talks between the Amestrian government and the Ministry of Magic had resumed not long after that, and the exchange program was born. Selim was still in contact with most of the DA, and they'd been discussing meeting for a reunion. He would have been lying to himself if he said he wasn't looking forward to it.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, the first homunculus waved for the wizards to join him, as they gathered their luggage and approached, he smiled. He was looking forward to seeing how they'd take the training.

**And that's a wrap! Ladies, gentlemen, and however you identify, we have completed Hunter of Souls! I don't plan on writing another sequel, but I think I might write some omakes in a separate post to this story. What do you think? Until the next story!**


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